The Shattered Blade
by Zeromaru Chaos Mode
Summary: The Dark Dragon has awakened again, bound to the soul of an orphaned human.  DOATEC has taken its shards and created a powerful weapon.  Zero must collect these shards and seal the power within...before it is too late...  OC? Paring.
1. Prologue

**The Shattered Blade**

**Prologue**

(BGM: Ninja Gaiden – The Dark Dragon Blade)

**Two years. That is how long my power has been scattered, broken. The blade that once held my soul had been shattered. Shattered by its light counterpart. Fourteen pieces of the blade exist, scattered by the winds. For two years my soul had been sleeping, waiting for one worthy to awaken me. The power held within the blade corrupting whomever it touched…few could resist, or even contain such power within them. It was an ingenious move, I must admit. Shatter the blade which houses the soul of the Dark Dragon, and you extremely reduce the possibility of one being corrupted by it. However like all plans, it had its failures as well…**

**For you see, though the blade was shattered, its power remained. Weakened, yes, but still there. Though the threat of the blade itself was gone…the corruptive essences of my power were scattered across the globe. Of course, none of the previous wielders were worthy in the first place, which is why the power corrupted them. Only those who desired power, not of greed, nor envy, nor hate…those who desired it to become whole, to learn, to protect, to mend…could truly draw upon my power.**

**Yes, greed, envy, wrath, scorn, lust…they could draw forth the power of the Dark Dragon…but it would corrupt them, defile their soul, and make them its slave. Only one who wished to answer the call of Darkness could wield it without fear of corruption. This one…he holds a shard with him. The shard has not corrupted him, yet he does not heed the call of the Ancients…he wishes revenge against those who have slain his family…his beloved sister whom he cherished above all others…but not in the…normal sense.**

**Nay, his revenge was to slowly disassemble them. Yes, he'd like nothing more than to spill the blood of those who spilled that of his family…but only them. Those they worked with, those that were NOT apart of it, did not order the deaths of his family…they were not even considered as threats. Yes, he would most likely end up ruining a few lives with his actions, but that was a course he was willing to accept. For he felt a sense of grief, sympathy in his heart for those who were not tied to the deaths of his family, that would suffer from his coming actions.**

**And I shall aid him. For he has unknowingly already created a tie between our souls. When his blood spilled on the shard his family had come into possession of, the necklace his beloved sister gave to him…it woke me from my forced slumber. Always the believer in the supernatural, something that nobody in his family reciprocated, or understood, but simply ignored, save his sister, he quickly grasped my words, and understood. His wish was to complete his revenge, and then he would answer my call.**

**For months he trained in the mental, spiritual, and physical arts. He learned, the fought, he practiced…pushing himself beyond the limits of his human body…and we bonded. He became more instinctual, more aware…and I…became more human. I learned from him, as he from me. Finally, after a near half year…he was ready. He had built a reputation in the underground. He was among the whispers of those who hid in the shadows. Rumors, truths, lies, everything was whispered about him. And in turn, he learned. He listened to those who normally went unheard. He would seek the words that went unspoken…and finally, our goal was clear.**

**The company known as DOATEC, a group known to be the organization behind the Dead or Alive Martial Arts fighting tournaments, had been performing experiments upon their chosen fighters. Not only that…but it would seem that they had created a powerful new weapon, one that could lead to the end of civilization as it was known. My chosen warrior obtained information that the weapon itself was being held in a secure location inside the DOATEC Tri-Tower. What is stranger…is that I myself had been feeling a pull from that location…as if something familiar were calling to me…**

**I wonder…could the new weapon be related to the shards of my old blade? Still, whether that's the case or not, destroying this weapon was top priority. And if it could not be destroyed…then he must wield it against them. Unknown to us however…the same time that we were to infiltrate their tower…a group of powerful beings were to destroy it…**

**Perhaps…this was Fate's way…of giving my dear Zero a chance at a second life…**


	2. The Ultimates

**The Shattered Blade**

**Chapter I: Ultimate Weapon, Ultimate Warrior**

(BGM: Witch Hunter Robin – Assassinator)

**Tell me why we're doing this again? **_Because it's the most stealthy way to get into the bloody room unseen. _**But you heard him; there are no guards on this floor! **_Tia, listen, just because there aren't any guards, does _not _mean there aren't security measures._

The shadowed figure looked through an iron grate. _See? Look down there. _**Oh…huh…I guess you're right.**

Below them was a hallway filled with security beams, cameras, and all sorts of hi-tech protections.

**But if it's so important, why aren't there any security measures in the vents? **_Well…could be any number of reasons. One being rats, like those we just encountered, and the other being that it's so friggin obvious._

The figure continued to crawl, slowly through the ventilation shaft. After a few more minutes of slowly moving in a cramped space, it reached its destination.

_Effing finally!_

He pulled out a screwdriver and slowly unscrewed the grate covering the opening. **It's a bit of a drop…**_Which is why I'm pulling the grate up, and not letting it fall like an idiot. _**Think you can handle it? **_Probably, just get ready for a crapload of cursing…I swear, this better be worth it…_**It will be…I can feel it…there's something in this room that's calling to me…**_Well, your senses haven't gotten me killed yet._

The shadowed figure dropped down into the room. He fell for a few seconds and then landed in a crouch. _Ow, ow, FUCKING ow! _**Oh stop being such a baby. You can handle it. **_No shit I can handle it, but it doesn't mean I'm not allowed to complain dammit! _Within the recesses of the shadowed figure's mind, the ethereal presence rolled its eyes.

The figure looked up and saw his goal. _Wow…that's uhh…what the fuck is it? _**Damned if I know…but I can tell you this…it's made of- **_Jesus effing Christ! SIX Shards?! _The voice grumbled. **I was about to say that…** The figure strafed around the shielded object. _Complete with the "Jesus effing Christ?" _**No…that was going to be omitted. **_But of course…_**Ok…hurry up and grab that thing…it's making me edgy. **_Tiamat…you've _ALWAYS _been edgy. Hell, it's like you've built a summer cottage on the edge, in which you live, _year 'round. **Stop quoting comedians and get that thing! **_Alright, alright…touchy…_

The shadowed figure pulled out one of the screws in its pocket and tossed it at the strange shimmering field around its target. The screw bounced back, causing the figure to duck, since it was repelled at the speeds of a bullet.

**Oh come on! **_Oooh, a challenge. Good, I've been bored. _**You're ALWAYS bored. Even when you're training and sweating and panting and tired you're bored! My GODS man! What will it take for you to actually be interested in something!**

The figure walked up to the field and began analyzing it with his eyes. _Ehh, probably once we get this thing, find out exactly what it can do…and then find a way to remove these twat monkeys from their power. _**Wouldn't that just make you MORE bored? **_No…cause then I can begin the exiting activity known as "dating". Joy. _**If I didn't know any better I'd say you weren't interested in a relationship. **_Tia, you know how things are right now. Unless she was like…a friggin ninja or something…I wouldn't be able to get involved with someone. You've seen what happens to people I'm close to. They get killed. Brutally. Until I take these fuckers down, I can't be with anyone. _**Unless she's a ninja.**

He moved over to one of the many lit consoles, searching for data on either the object, or the security.

_Well, she doesn't HAVE to be a ninja…I meant…she has to be strong enough to truly take care of herself…since…I might not be able to…not yet at least. _**Well at least you aren't all emo like some other people would be. **_Ehh, I probably would have been if you didn't show up in my head. At least with you around I've got something to keep me in check…and give me some hope ne? I lost everything that day…but gained something powerful in return. Kinda strange…still…I miss Lynn…_

**She **_**was **_**cute…**_If she wasn't my sister; I'd probably have been attracted to her. _**I can't say I blame you. She seemed perfect for you. **_Probably why she ended up as my sister. Other halves tend to do that. Still I miss-Hello. _**What? Why'd you-whoa.**

The data on the object was rather…disturbing.

_**Project Infinity.**_

_**Utilizes the power held within six of the shards of a weapon known as the Dark Dragon Blade. A wondrous fusion of the mystic powers of the Dark Dragon, and our advanced technology. Able to disrupt the molecular structure of whatever the user chooses. However, a side effect of drawing power from the Dark Dragon makes Project Infinity extremely fickle. Tests show it will only respond to a specific person, one that we have no control over choosing.**_

_**Potential for even more abilities has been shown in simulations. What these abilities are, and how they work, is currently beyond us. Research team has been allotted three weeks to find out more of potential advancements.**_

_Able to fuck around with molecules? God DAMN! _**Uhh…care to explain? Ancient Dragon here, we didn't have this whole, Molecular Structure stuff going on. **_Yes you did, you just didn't know it. Alright, crash course. Scientists discovered that all things are made up of atoms and molecules. Tiny little specs of energy that are unseeable without special equipment. How they were originally created, why, and how they actually manage to form physical objects is still unknown. With me so far?_

**Actually…yes. Continue. **_If that…ring…can rupture and warp the molecular structure of things, it can literally destroy WORLDS. _**Uhh…how? **_EVERYTHING is made up of Atoms and Molecules. Every object that's ever existed in time, space, the universe, whatever, has been made up of these tiny things. If something exists that can actively manipulate them…well…whoever controls that is basically like God. _**Wouldn't that take a horrible amount of energy though? **_Yeah…which is probably why all they can do so far is cause it to rupture. But that alone…say you fired that thing at a building, a construct. Hundreds of people are in that building. You strike a key point in that building, erase some of the molecules in that object, and you cause its frame, its existence, to deteriorate. When that happens, it breaks, if not instantly shatters into pieces. Then, stress on the other supports increase. Strike a few more, this time random, and you've got an entire building collapsing because it's missing its supports. The thing is, nobody would be able to trace it._

**That sounds…wrong. **_Ok, better example. A human. A living being. You rupture _their _molecular structure, and they'll implode, explode…or possibly fragment into their base molecules. If this thing operates the way I think it does…someone could use that thing on another person, and the other person would be reduced to particles._

**Wow…you humans…are far more destructive than some of the demons I knew...**_That's the amazing thing about humans, we can be either way. Now…lets see…oh dammit! Authorization Codes Required. Fuck…and I'm no hacker, so I can't slice the system…dammit!_

It was at that moment that the door opened. "Well, an intruder. I'm surprised that someone would be brazen enough to enter this place."

_Aaaand we're boned._

In walked a smartly dressed blonde woman. _Damn…nice rack. _Once again, in his mind, Tiamat rolled her eyes.

"Now…why are you here…in this particular room?"

"To steal the superweapon." Tiamat smacked her head. **You idiot…**

The woman looked intrigued. "Really. Whatever for?"

"To crush your company."

"Why?"

"Revenge…for killing my family."

"I see. And after that?"

"I'll use it to fulfill a promise I made…to the one…who helped me get this far."

"And does that promise involve the destruction of innocents?"

"Hopefully not. I'll try to go around them, but if I can't, I will regretfully go through them."

The woman stared at him. "For a foreigner you have quite the amount of honor."

"It was instilled in me by the blood of the samurai running through my veins."

"Interesting…" She walked towards him. He tensed slightly, prepared for an attack…when she simply nudged him aside and accessed the console. After typing a few keys, there was a strange noise. He looked around, and noticed the protective field around the "ring" was gone. He turned back to the woman, barely hiding his shock.

She said nothing and walked away…stopping at the door.

"I too wish to see this place fall…but…due to my position, can do little for a great deal of time…time that I do not have…you…you will succeed. You _must _succeed. Do try not to get caught on your way out…it would be…troublesome…to lose such an asset."

She looked back as she said those words, her blue eyes shining in the light.

**Strange…I sensed no deception from her. **_Neither did I._

He turned back to the now floating "ring." Getting a closer look, he saw a small glowing silver band in the center of it.

"I get it now…the shards are connected by their energies…and in turn, are bound to the silver ring…" **There's a hole. **"Huh?" **There's a hole there. Right there, in between those two shards. Put yours in there.**

"Uhh…can I even do that?" **It's worth a shot. **He shrugged. "If you say so."

From beneath his black shirt, he pulled out a chain with a purple shard on it. He detached the shard from the chain and slid it in place on the ring. The seven shards glowed softly.

**Alright…now put it on. **"Wait, the files said- **The file said that it was fickle. It could only be wielded by it's chosen, I know. Put it on.**

He shook his head. "Whatever you say…"

Grasping the outside of the ring, the purple shards forming a cone like shape around the silver ring, he slid his hand inside…and down the ring went, almost like a bracelet, to his wrist.

"Nothing happened."

Just after he said that, the seven purple shards flared with light, and a searing pain erupted in his entire body. Gritting his teeth to prevent himself from yelling, he attempted to endure the pain…but after a few moments, he felt something happen in his head…and collapsed…wispy purple energy flowing off his body…

**

* * *

**

**Hey…wake up.**

"Ugh…"

The young man rolled on the ground, shifting. He slowly pulled himself up onto his knees. His left hand rested on his forehead, grasping it.

"What the fuck happened?"

**Looks like the energy overloaded you. Be glad you've had experience channeling my power or else it would have probably killed you. **"Well that's pleasant."

**Sorry…but it's to be expected. You went from controlling the power of One shard, to holding seven at once…but on the upside, I've been restored to a stronger awareness.**

"That's nice…why is everything flashing red?" **There's been an attack on the tower. Someone is systematically blowing up parts of the towers. **"And…how long have I been out?"

**Around two hours, give or take. I've been keeping an…eye…of sorts, on the situation. I think it'd be best to make our escape now.**

"That sounds like a good idea."

The youth slowly opened the door, noting that the security systems were offline. He quickly jogged down the hallway when a sudden crashing noise rang through. He whirled around and his eyes widened. _What in the hell?_

(BGM: DOA4 – Alpha-152)

Two figures, one clad in blue, with streaming red locks of hair, and one clad in purple, with a much lighter shade of it cut short...were fighting against a glowing…feminine shape. _Damn, what is it with today and big chested women?!_

The glowing woman vanished from sight…and suddenly the red haired woman was slammed into a wall.

"Jesus! Is that even possible?!" **It would seem that way…and from the way they're moving…it looks like we found your ninjas.**

The purple one activated some sort of weapon that made two glowing purple blades appear.

"Fuck that she's a Jedi." **No…she's a ninja. Look at her! **"Yeah, speed, supernatural power, only she's got a _fucking LIGHTSABER! _She's a Jedi!" **Ninja! **"Jedi!" **NINJA! **"Fine, she's a Ninjai." **You…are an idiot. **"Oh you know you love me."

While the two were "arguing" the purple clad woman was beaten soundly, and her weapon disengaged and clattered to the floor near the youth's feet. The red haired woman rose and began striking at the glowing being. Each strike was evaded, blocked, countered or redirected. Eventually the purple clad woman joined into the fight, covering the red haired woman's openings. The energy being seemed to take a few hits before growing irritated and sending out a wave of force that knocked the two backward.

"God DAMMIT! I could be leaving this place with Hayate-sama and the others but nooo, I have to be stuck here fighting your FUCKING clone!"

"I-I am sorry Ayane…if I was stronger…"

"Oh shut UP! If you keep calling yourself weak then you're saying I'm weaker than you!"

"Wh-what?"

"You idiot! If you're weak, and you've beaten me before, then that means that I'm weaker than you! And if that's the case then that would make me weaker than weak! And I am NOT weak!"

**No. **_Oh come on. I have to. _**No. You're going to get yourself killed. You haven't recovered from the overload…and even if you had, they're **_**ninjas **_**and they're losing to that thing. You're a normal human. **_No, I've been trained by, and infused with the energy of, the Dark Dragon. I can do this. _**Zero we got what we came for! We have to get out! **_I can't leave them Tia. Ninjas or not, they are the ones you sensed before…they're the ones who are destroying this place…they are allies to our cause._

The dark voice sighed. **You really intend on helping them? **_If I die, I wasn't strong enough to succeed in the first place. If I live, that means I can proceed…right? _**Ugh…you just had to use the old rules…**

Suddenly, his vision shifted. Things became clearer, the area became darker, the three women in front of him started giving off a faint glow…as strange crooked lines appeared on them. _What the shit?_

**Well…the eyes of the Death God…it seems you **_**are **_**special… **_Tiamat, what aren't you telling me? _**You've awakened a power that only those with the highest potential as my hosts could access…the Eyes of the Death God. It allows you to see the spiritual presence of life forms, their strength, and their weak points.**

_Weak points? _**You see those jagged lines? Those are the areas that their physical structure is weakest. If you were to say…cut, one of those lines, even with a blunt object, it would be as if you were slicing through a stream of water. You would sweep through with ease, and the object would fall apart.**

_Sweet…but why'd it get dark? _**This is just the first stage. You can only see the existence and deaths of living things right now. As your power, and understanding of "death" grows, you will begin to see the potential destruction of Non-living things as well…and in it's final stage, you will see the Shatterpoints, as I call them. **_Shatterpoints? _**The key areas that will completely destroy the target. Everyone has them, even you. At its highest form, your new eyes will be able to see these, for both living, and non-living things.**

_Kinda…DBZish don't you think? _**In a sense…yes and no. You most likely received this power in response to the way my power has been used to create this weapon. Since the weapon has bonded with you, it has warped my power within you, and allowed for this ability to be born.**

_Interesting…lets test them. _**I'll tell you now. Your reaction times will be increased, especially against that…thing…but don't rely too much on your new eyes. I'll help as much as I can, but there's no telling what that thing will whip out.**

The glowing female slowly sauntered up to the red haired woman. It raised its hand, and a glowing light appeared.

"HEY! LITE-BRITE!"

The figure raised its head, as the red haired woman and the purple clad female turned and saw a blur of black racing their way. Within seconds it slammed its fist into the glowing woman's face, sending her back a few feet.

The two looked up to see a black clad figure. Brown skin covered his young looking face, black hair down to his shoulders, and glowing silver eyes stared back at them. **They look…young… **_Skill isn't always determined by age Tia. _**I guess you're right.**

"You two stay put and recover a bit. I'll see if I can slow that thing down. You see an opening, take it. Don't worry about me, I'll know when you're attacking."

Before the glowing woman could fully recover, Zero activated the weapon and rushed her.

"What the fuck? Who does he think he is charging in like that?!"

"He saved our lives Ayane…we should be thankful."

"Tch, got in the way is more like it."

"Look carefully…does it really look like he's in the way? He's holding his own with her better than we were."

It was true. The young "thief" was easily dispatching the attacks of the glowing woman. Because of his weapon, her range was reduced, and she had not the time to charge any ranged attacks. He was little more than a whirling blur of black and purple, spinning the double sided weapon like a baton around him, easily thwarting her attacks.

_Damn, I feel so light! _**That would probably be due to you accessing more of my power…I've recovered more, thus you can draw forth more. **_Damn…no wonder people would go nuts over this stuff…_

Aiming for the barely seeable lines on her body, he continued to swing his temporary weapon like an expert. He quickly twirled the double sided blade into his left hand, the glowing female barely evading the triple slash to her stomach, and pulled back his right fist. _Ok, charge…_

His fist glowed a faint purple. He swung forward, burying it into the glowing woman's stomach. _And release!_

"Reppashou!"

The energy detonated, and with a bang, the glowing woman was flung down the hallway. **Very nice! I see you've mastered that one. **_Still hurts a bit to do it…but I'm getting better. _**Just remember, you can do that with an open palm as well. **_I know, it's just harder to keep the energy contained like that._

Just then, two blurs rushed past him. The two girls slipped underneath the glowing clone's guard and both tripped her up at the same time. Working in exact harmony, the two followed up with a snap kick to its face, followed by a series of punches to its chest and back, and finally a spinning jump kick to its head. By then, the extra effect of Zero's eyes had faded, but he still saw…_something_ shatter around the woman.

**Zero, use the weapon! **_What? _**That was the signal for the time to use the weapon! **_But…the ring is gone! All that's left is the silver band! _**Trust me, raise your right arm.**

Zero complied. As if sensing his will, the purple shards returned, appearing in their cone shaped formation around the silver band. _Whoa! But, how did- _**The shards become internalized when it's not active. While you were unconscious I was able to get some more intel on our new toy. **_How? _**Oh come on, it IS made from my power. It was like recovering a blocked memory. I'll give you the tutorial later, right now, focus on disrupting that bitch's existence!**

_You're the boss… _Zero closed his eyes momentarily…they snapped open. As if responding to his unspoken command, the ring of shards shifted. Three of them pulled back slightly, as if making room. The remaining four seemed to grow into almost finger like objects. _It looks like…a claw…_

The "claw" arced forward, as if reaching for the glowing woman. Four glowing silver lights appeared just below the tips of the claw…after a few moments the lights burst, turning into arrow tipped streams of multi-colored energy. The streams arced their way to the glowing woman, streaking past the two ninjas, and slammed into her chest. A halo of light appeared around the woman upon impact, and tiny particles of light began streaming off of her. An inhuman scream of pain tore through the area, forcing the two ninjas to cover their ears. The streams, which now resembled lances connecting the claw to the woman, faded from view. The screaming stopped.

The two ninjas looked at the now splintering form of the glowing woman…when it exploded sending both flying. The purple haired ninja slammed into a wall with a loud crunch. She let out a gasp of pain. The red haired one simply flew down the hallway and tumbled for a bit. With the purple haired ninja focusing her mind on blocking out the pain, and Zero watching the claw retract back into the ring of shards, and the ring vanishing, nobody noticed the faint green glow that surrounded the red haired ninja. The glow faded, and she climbed to her feet. A rumbling shook the hallway as alarms flared to life.

(BGM: Metroid Prime 2 – Escape Theme)

**Zero! We have to get out of here!**

"Agh!"

The purple clad ninja could no longer hold back her irritation and pain.

"Ayane!"

The red haired ninja ran to her accomplice. Both were approached by a concerned looking Zero.

"What happened?"

"Fuck…broke something…I think my ankle's been broken…"

_Ouch. _"Ayane, can you stand?"

"What the fuck do you think idiot?! Of course I can't stand! I can barely feel my fucking foot!"

_Bitchy…_**Zero! You have to go! NOW! **_Why? What's wrong? _**This building's become unstable, someone blew something up in one of the lower floors. We've only got a few minutes to find a way out of here!**

"Time bomb set, get out fast?"

Both ninjas looked at him in confusion. "What?"

**Dammit stop quoting Metroid and get the hell out of there!**

"We have to go."

"No shit, but I can't get anywhere with this fucking foot."

Zero thought for a moment. "You can't walk?"

"What are you deaf? No, I can't!"

He nodded to himself. "Right then."

He nudged the red haired ninja out of the way and kneeled down in front of Ayane, back to her. The red haired girl quickly caught on, and while Ayane was confused, grabbed her cohort and propped her up.

"H-hey what the hell are you doing?!"

The red haired girl grabbed Ayane's arms and swung them around Zero's neck, while Zero hefted up the purple clad ninja's legs, carrying her on his back.

"What the fuck?! Put me down!"

"You can't walk. So unless you wish to die here, I'm going to carry you. This way, if need be, at least one of my hands can be free to do something."

"That way's blocked, we have to go down this way. The elevators wont work, so we'll need to take the stairs."

"Red, you take point. Purple, get comfortable, it might be a bumpy ride."

"Purple?! Dammit I have a name you know!"

The red haired ninja dashed off, the black clad youth trailing behind her. The three traveled down a few flights of stairs before they reached a point where the stairs had collapsed.

"Damn…if I wasn't carrying Purple here, I could probably jump that…"

"There's a door…but…oh no, It's locked!"

Zero turned and saw a keypad. "Oh bleeding hell I don't know the fracking code…"

**Star, three, five, seven, two, three, two, eight, zero, enter.**

Blinking a few times, Zero obeyed what his "inner voice" said and punched in the code. "Well I'll be damned, you got it right Tia." **It…just came to me…wait…that doesn't happen…Zero don't open that-**

Too late. Zero pulled open the door, ready to run down the hall…when he saw a large group of armored people.

"Fuck."

"Intruders? FREEZE!"

They all leveled their guns at the three.

"FUCK!"

Zero yanked the door closed, just in time before a hail of bullets slammed into it.

"Upstairs!"

The two walkers leapt up the stairs three at a time, racing higher up. The sound of metallic clanking below let them know that their persuers were right behind them.

"Door!"

The red haired ninja kicked the door open and they raced into another hallway. Just as they nearly made it to the end, the other door slammed open and a group of the armored people streamed in. The two turned and ran the other way, only to encounter the other group.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck! Kasumi this is all your fault!"

"My fault?! How is it my fault?!"

"If you weren't so damn weak we wouldn't be in this mess!"

"Me? You're the one who managed to get her ankle broken!"

_Damn…the red head's got some bite to her. _**There's no time, Zero, we have to do something! **_Duh, but what _can _we do?! _**The ring, use the ring! **_How the hell is that gonna help?! _**When you put in the seventh shard, it upgraded. The two hours I spent figuring things out taught me its three phases. Disrupt, Drain, and Distort. The first, we've seen, the second some how drains the target's power into you, and the third acts like a warp! **_Yeah, now I'm glad we took this from these bastards. _**You have to use the third power! **_I don't know how!_

Once again, as if reacting to his plight, the ring of shards appeared around the silver band. Ayane and Zero looked down at his arm, as Kasumi spared a glance behind her to see what the glow was.

_A warp you say?_

"Red! Tell me you have somewhere safe we can go!"

"Ha-hai! But…how are we going to get there?"

"Does it have a name?"

"N-not really…"

**Tell her to just think about it, really REALLY hard.**

"I want you to think of that place as hard as you can ok?"

"Ha-Hai!"

Against her better judgment, Kasumi squeezed her eyes shut and focused on the apartment she shared with Hitomi.

The ring pulsed with light. _I hope that means its working…here goes!_

Time seemed to slow. Flashes of light erupted all around them as the armored men fired their weapons. The bullets streaked towards the three…only to hit an invisible wall. Zero raised his fist into the air, and the ring flared with light. The light repelled the bullets. He slammed his fist into the ground, and the seven shards separated. Each shard took point at a different position, creating a circle. A ring of purple light connected the shards as a faint, transparent swirling dome of light purple mist surrounded the three. A fierce wind blew in the hallway as the dome seemed to suck in the surrounding air. A black void spilled out from where Zero's fist met the ground, reaching to just inside the edge of the swirling dome. The void engulfed the three as sparks of blue electricity raged along the outer portions of the dome. **Wipe out these assholes…**_Take us to where Red is thinking…_**Wipe out these assholes…**_Take us to where Red is thinking…_

The combined wishes of Tiamat and Zero activated. Tiamat wished for the destruction of the building, while Zero wished for the salvation of him and his allies.

The dome pulsed with energy, and then in the blink of an eye, shrunk to a single point of light. The point of light gave a small flash…and a huge explosion blew off the entire top half of the north tower…

Zero, Kasumi, and the Injured Ayane had all vanished.

From the safety of Zack's helicopter...Helena watched as the tower exploded violently. A small smile appeared on her stoic face.

_It looks like I was correct about you…_

* * *

Here is the official first chapter of this story. Updates will be random, since it's a little pet project. I have a general plotline set up for this, and I'll be focusing mainly on Kasumi, Ayane, Zero and Tiamat. Others, like Hitomi, Lei Fang, Helena, Ryu and Hayate will make their appearances and have their parts, but their influence will be rather minimal.

Kasumi seems to be portrayed as a quiet, solemn and kind hearted girl. Pure as fresh water from a melted icecap. Of course, with such light comes great hidden darkness. She'll get pissed, irritated, and generally annoyed and embarrassed many times in this fic. Plus…a little something special.

Ayane seems to be filled with scorn, rage, a tad bit of envy, and just generally annoyed with everything, and vulgar. She will curse. A lot. This will be matched only by Zero. This will be shown, exploited, and generally redirected many times as she gets into arguments with Kasumi and Zero. I'm hoping I can fluidly evolve her character into a tough, but generally lighter existence.

Zero, like his name states, is the ultimate nothing. He's everything, but he isn't anything at the same time. Having nothing but the clothes on his back, money from underhanded and dark dealings, and now the Ultimate Weapon created by DOATEC, his goals are simple, deal enough lasting damage to DOATEC so they can no longer function, and restore the Dark Dragon Blade to fulfill his willing promise to Tiamat. After that…maybe find a capable girl and settle down for a bit. Relationships aren't what he's looking for right now, unless the girl is strong enough to protect herself, considering that eventually it WILL get out that he took the "ring" from DOATEC, and they're gonna send stuff after him. But…he's about to land in the presence of four beautiful and strong women…maybe he'll find someone there…

Tiamat is the Dark Dragon. Goddess of Destruction. Sealed by the Dragon Lineage into the Dark Dragon Blade, and then shattered to pieces by Ryu Hayabusa, she seeks to regain her past strength…but the time she spent scattered has drained her of her truly dark impulses. Now she wishes simply to regain her old self, and maybe sleep for a while. And I mean REALLY sleep, not that sealed away bullshit fake sleep. Her time spent segmented, along with her time with Zero has made her more human, able to understand the strengths and weaknesses of those she once looked down upon. She regrets few of her past actions, her pride simply wont let her feel remorse for what she's done…but she is working towards at least helping Zero set his life right.

Now, as stated by Zero in this chapter, the "ring" is quite powerful, and on top of that he can see the "Death" of things. That power is temporary and limited until he works it. It's like a muscle. The "ring" on the other hand, due to its sheer power, will be saved as a "Finishing Blow" or "Last Resort". But because he has such ties to a being wish such massive dark power, you'll see that he becomes overwhelmed by it occasionally, leading to a transformation of sorts…but afterwards, because of the amount of power he wielded in that state, he will be exhausted, and vulnerable. Not to mention since his body must adapt to the energies of the Dark Dragon, forcing such amounts of power WILL shorten his lifespan.

NaughtyAssassin: The narrator in the prologue was Tiamat herself. It was meant to be a bit ambiguous and confusing actually. I do that often with my prologs to make people want to know more. And it works. It's also fun. I'm glad you think I set things up well, and I hope I can live up to your expectations.

Epiphany: Yeah no. If they hurt your eyes, put on more lights around you to counter-balance. Or, don't sit so close to the screen, or get glasses. There's gonna be a LOT of bold in this story, but I'll ease your mind in one respect, I highly doubt there will be another ENTIRE page of bold lettering. To be honest, it fucks with my eyes a bit as well.


	3. Fear

**The Shattered Blade**

**Chapter II: Fates Revealed**

(BGM: Metroid Prime 2 – Dark Samus Appears)

Sparks of electricity lined the room. Immediately, Lei Fang, who had come to Japan for a visit to two of her friends from the Dead or Alive tournament, backed away from the deadly bolts. The sparks gathered in the center of the room, writhing and pulsing, almost like a growing life form…when there was a forceful boom and a huge sphere of swirling purple energy containing a dome of blackness appeared.

Moments afterwards, Hitomi, clad in no more than a damp towel she held against herself, burst into the room. The Chinese girl took no notice to her friend's entrance, eyes fixated on the swirling dome in front of her. Both the purple wisps and the black void began to fade, from top to bottom. Within moments all that remained was a glowing ring of light on the ground. The light, created by seven spinning purple crystal-like shards, dimmed as the power faded. The shards slowly ceased their rotation and immediately slammed onto a dark figure's arm that was pressed against the ground.

"Kasumi! Eh? Ayane too?"

Sparks of purple electricity raced around the unknown figure's arm before the cone shaped ring of shards faded from view, their job complete. He wobbled slightly, as if drunken and dizzy. Raising his eyes, his blurry vision made out Hitomi's figure…she who dropped her towel in surprise, moments before.

"Damn…nice rack…"

With those last words, he fell to his knees and then to the floor, unconscious and with Ayane still on top of him. Hitomi blushed fiercely and grabbed her towel, wrapping it around herself immediately. Her embarrassment caused the others to laugh slightly…well, excluding Ayane, who landed on her foot, causing her a great deal of irritation.

Kasumi noticed Lei Fang, and gasped.

"Ah! Lei Fang! I forgot you were coming!"

"Hey idiot!"

They all turned to Ayane, who had a tinge of red on her cheeks, but a glare in her eyes.

"A little help here?"

Kasumi tilted her head in confusion before remembering what happened. Her eyes widened, and her cheeks flushed as she mentally kicked herself for forgetting.

"Oh! I'm sorry!"

Helping her half sister up, the two hobbled Ayane to Kasumi's room, putting the purple haired girl on her bed. It was Hitomi who posed the next question.

"What should we do with the pervert?"

"We have a couple of spare futon do we not? We can place him on one of those…I guess…near Ayane…"

"What? Why me?"

"Because you cannot easily move in your condition. He saved our lives; at the very least you can keep an eye on him while he recovers. I don't know what it was that he did…but taking on that clone…and transporting us here with that strange object, obviously took a great deal out of him…"

Reluctantly, Ayane agreed. "Fine, fine…but only cause I'm basically stuck on this stupid thing…and dammit what is it with you and pink?!"

Kasumi flushed again, only to be rescued by Lei.

"Wait a minute, 'saved our lives?' 'Clone?' What happened? Where were you anyway?"

"Well…it's like this…"

**

* * *

**

**Days Later…**

It had been a few days since the attack on the DOATEC Tri-Tower. The youth, unknown to the others named Zero, had still yet to awaken. Ayane was up and moving around, for though rather stiff, her ankle was healing rather nicely. Lei Fang had come by to visit again that day and having nothing better to do, Ayane reluctantly spent the day listening to the three other girls' pointless conversations. Occasionally she would throw in a sarcastic remark or statement…which was oddly enough, countered by one of Kasumi's own.

As you can guess, it completely bewildered Ayane to see her half-sister talking back instead of bowing her head and muttering an apology. Bewildered, and slightly impressed, not that she'd admit it any time soon. However, it was that same day that a knocking on the sliding glass window to the balcony sung through the apartment. And when Hitomi opened the shades.

"Ein!"

Hayate and Ryu Hayabusa were on the balcony.

"Hayabusa-san! Nii-san!"

"Hayate-sama! Ryu-sama!"

"Kasumi, Ayane…it is good to see you survived."

"Aaa…H-hai…but we wouldn't have survived if it weren't for him…" Kasumi muttered.

"Him?"

Ayane shot an annoyed glare at her half-sister. "We encountered a strange person while fighting that energy clone. He completely decimated it, and then somehow teleported us out of the place…"

"It…wasn't that simple…"

Kasumi was staring off towards the direction of her room. "He showed up…fought the clone…and finished it off, yes…but we did our parts too…it's not like he took the battle from our hands completely. We attempted to escape, but those strange armored soldiers were in our path…we tried another route, but another group stopped us."

Unseen to anyone her eyes were glowing slightly.

"He had this strange…thing…on his right wrist. Made from purple shards of…crystal…maybe glass. I don't understand how…but just as the soldiers fired on us, he punched the ground with it…and this swirling vortex of purple and black sucked us away. I don't know why he stayed and helped us…because it looked like he could have just left at any time…he even went as far as carrying Ayane…"

Hayate blinked and looked at Ayane, who immediately blushed and ducked her head. "Damn…fucking foot…"

Ryu was the one who questioned, the other girls staying silent, for they had heard this tale before. "Why would she require assistance?"

Still staring into space, Kasumi answered. "When that person used that strange ring to defeat the clone…it exploded. The explosion sent Ayane into a wall at a bad angle, and broke her ankle. She could barely stand, so he carried her on his back…much to her protests."

_A strange ring made of purple shards…could that be…_

"Is he here?"

The glow faded just as Kasumi answered Ryu. "Yes…be it the defeating of the clone, the teleportation, or a combination of everything that happened, he has been unconscious since our return…and resting in my room."

"Indeed? May I see him?"

"I was meaning to check up on him anyway, I'll take you to him."

**

* * *

**

**Just a matter of time…you'll be back to normal soon Zero…**

The spirit of the Dark Dragon, Tiamat, was currently adding her power to boost Zero's natural recovery systems. She was worried for her charge.

**But I'm not surprised you've been out for this long…that was more of my power than your body has ever channeled before…and for such a time…it is a miracle that you face something as slight as exhaustion.**

Suddenly she sensed something.

**What…no…it can't be! Not now!**

Ryu entered the room before Kasumi. Immediately the sword on his back began to softly glow silver. _That's strange…I removed the jewel years ago…could this be an omen?_

Moments after his sword began to glow, the ring of shards around Zero's wrist began to flicker in and out of existence, giving off its own purple glow.

"Hayabusa-san? Is something wrong?"

"I do not know…" He drew his blade to inspect it. The ring's pulsing grew stronger. "But I believe…your new friend has something unusual about him…"

**The Dragon Blade…I can feel it…no…not here…I cannot allow Zero to fall at the hands of that damned blade!**

Ryu approached the unconscious Zero, unknown to Tiamat, without any intent at all to harm him. He stood over the weakened youth, puzzling over why the two separate objects were appearing to resonate with one another.

Suddenly, Zero's eyes snapped open. The action caused Ryu to take a step back in reflex. Immediately Zero's form blurred and slammed into the elder ninja, sending them both through the open doorway to the center room. Zero's body flipped off of Ryu.

(BGM: Metroid Prime 2 – Darkness)

The growling voice of Tiamat rung through the apartment.

**I will not let you destroy him!**

Zero's body lifted into the air and curled into a fetal position, glowing violet. It quickly thrust its arms and legs out to the fullest extent, and a wave of purple energy shot through the room. A dome of transparent purple hexagonal panels appeared around the two combatants, keeping them in, and the others out. A violet aura surrounded Zero, taking the form of a mighty beast with five claws, a long spiked tail and a horned head.

_This aura…is it…the Dark Dragon?!_

Glowing red eyes glared at the ninja, a glare that promised pain and dismemberment. The draconic form dropped to the ground on all fours and growled harshly at the ninja. Ryu had no time to react, as Zero blurred again and a fist was slammed in Ryu's face. The ninja rolled with the punch, flipping to his feet. He raised his glowing sword just in time to block a claw strike from the draconic aura.

"Hayabusa-san!"

"What the hell? What's going on?"

"Damn I knew we couldn't trust that pervert!"

Hayate, about to call the name of his close friend, blinked and turned to Hitomi.

"Pervert?"

Hitomi answered with a blush. Lei Fang absently spoke, completely absorbed into the fight.

"When they showed up, the only thing he said before he fell unconscious was 'nice rack,' to Hitomi. She just got out of the shower when they showed up and she dropped her towel."

Hitomi blushed deeper and sent an annoyed look at Lei Fang.

Zero leapt backward into the air, narrowly evading a swing of Ryu's blade. He hovered there for a moment, the purple aura swirling around him. It flared with light and a series of purple orbs rocketed towards Ryu. Ryu rolled out of the way of the attack, only to get caught by a side kick by Zero. He flipped back and landed on his feet.

_Such strength…if not for this armor my ribs surely would have been broken…_

The glowing youth raced towards the ninja, leaping into the air and bringing a claw down on him. Ryu blocked it with his blade, only to have to twist and bring his blade up for another block as Zero pushed off the blade with his claw and flip over the ninja aiming for another slash. The attack was defended, but Zero pulled his feet from underneath him and delivered a double kick to Hayabusa's chest, springing off him.

Ryu stumbled backwards slightly. Immediately Zero flipped and crossed his arms. He lashed them out and a series of energy beams lanced towards Ryu who quickly rolled and then flipped out of the way. Zero growled and landed. He slammed his right fist into the ground, the ring of shards flaring to life. Suddenly Ryu found himself stuck, bound by a gigantic ethereal claw.

Immediately afterward, Zero's left hand began blurring. The four ninja's eyes widened, all of them sharing the same thoughts.

_Are those…hand seals?_

The world around everyone turned black. Tiamat's voice rang out.

**Tenkou mitsuru tokoro ware wa ari…**

A glowing purple symbol appeared beneath Ryu. Hayate and Ryu's eyes widened in shock as they recognized what was happening.

**Yomi no mon hiraku tokoro nanji ari…**

The four circles on the edges of the symbol glowed and fired a beam of light into the air. Partway, the four beams arced together into one gigantic lance of purple light, right above Hayabusa. The lance of light fired into the sky, as angry dark clouds appeared, swirling around the beam.

**Ide yo, Kami no ikazuchi!**

Rumbles of thunder sounded through the darkness. Purple arcs of electricity lanced through the clouds.

**INDIGNATION!**

There was a brilliant flash of light…and then a HUGE forking lance of lightning slammed into the ground where Ryu stood. The lightning took with it the sudden darkness and the room returned to normal, however Ryu was sent flying by the blast. Zero flipped back…but this time it was slow, as if he was being slowed by something. Torrents of energy flowed around him as he curled into a ball. A shell of purple energy surrounded him…and he rocketed forward, aiming for Hayabusa's twitching body.

The near legendary ninja recovered his motor functions just in time to roll out of the way, only to be popped into the air as the impact from the sphere called forth a wave of kinetic force.

Hayabusa was panting heavily. The one attack injured him a good deal. _Amazing…that technique was said to have been lost millennia ago…_

Suddenly a purple claw of energy shot out of the cloud of dust and grabbed him. He struggled, but he couldn't move.

**It ends here! You'll not slay my Zero!**

A swirling purple orb appeared in Zero's right hand. He made a powerful leap towards Hayabusa…

Suddenly, the red orbs flickered. The orb in Zero's right hand began to destabilize. **What? No! Not now!**

The red eyes turned brown, and Zero blinked, still holding the orb, still en route to impact with Ryu.

_Huh? What's…?_

Everyone heard Tiamat's last cry.

**No! Zero don't-**

Zero blinked. _Dude…that guy looks fucking badass…_

It was at that moment he noticed the unstable orb in his right hand.

"Ah…shi-

The instability reached a climax, and it detonated. The purple aura immediately vanished into wisps of vapor as Zero was sent flying backward from the explosion. The dome of energy keeping things inside that particular area shattered just before Zero reached it, so his flight continued. He slammed into a wall, head first…and slid down, once again unconscious.

(BGM: MP2 – Dark Samus Appears)

"Ryu-sama!"

"Ryu!"

"Hayabusa-san!"

Kasumi and Hayate rushed to Ryu's aide. Ryu shook himself.

"I'm fine. The worst bit of it was that Indignation technique."

"What was that?!"

"I believe…that was the Dark Dragon."

Ayane gasped. "Impossible! You shattered that thing two years ago!"

"And yet it is within that boy. It is strange…the malice I sensed…was not the same as before. Similar, yes, but not exactly."

Hitomi piped up. "It talked too…"

Lei Fang tossed in her own two cents. "It sounded…like it was trying to protect him…"

"Indeed…though surprising, it _has _been two years…I would assume it is in a weakened state. So it would indeed wish to protect its host…"

She shook her head. "No it sounded like it wanted to _protect _him. Not for its safety but _his._ It didn't sound angry before that last attack backfired, it sounded _afraid. _Afraid for him."

Hitomi countered. "But that makes no sense. Why would its attack fail like that? It did much worse during the rest of the fight!"

"He woke up."

They all were confused. Ryu explained.

"Before that last attack failed, I saw the aura fade, and his eyes change color. Before it failed he looked confused. Perhaps it wasn't the Dark Dragon in control those last few seconds, but him."

Kasumi continued while bandaging Zero's head. "And the Dark Dragon was afraid…because maybe…he isn't strong enough to consciously handle the amount of power within that attack?"

Hayate mused. "That _would _explain why it began to destabilize…along with its sudden bout of fear."

Ayane murmured. "I wont let you harm him…the Dark Dragon…was perhaps attacking to defend him? Maybe…it sensed Ryu-sama's Dragon Blade…and grew fearful that he would notice its power…and slay that boy…"

Hayate spoke again. "But the question is…how is it that he holds the Dark Dragon within him?"

Kasumi muttered. "The ring…"

Everyone turned to her.

"The ring…maybe it's not crystal…but shards of the blade…"

Ryu's eyes widened. "If that is true…then my actions may have only delayed the inevitable…"

Hitomi glanced at Zero's form. "We won't know until he wakes up…and with that wound, who knows how long that will take."

Ryu looked at the youth. "Nevertheless, the boy must be a strong warrior if he can subdue the power of the Dark Dragon like he did…" He thought for a moment. "Yes…that would do nicely…"

The others looked at him confused. "Do not mind me. I just think I may have a way to tell if he is the one possessing the power…or if the power possesses him."

Ayane understood. "You are going to use _that?_"

"I shall give it to him, yes."

"Wait, _give _it to him? As in let him _keep _it?!"

"Yes."

"But…its-

"It has sentimental value, that I will not dispute…however…its nature, its origins…would prove more useful to him than I."

"As you wish…Ryu-sama…"

"I shall find a place to recover for a little while. After that, I shall return with my gift when he is awake."

Hayate stood along with Ryu. "I must return to the village. I too will come back along with Ryu. There are questions I wish to ask of him."

Ayane made to go with them, but Hayate gently pushed her onto a chair. "Your ankle is not yet fully healed Ayane. Remain here and recover peacefully. I've no doubt you have the will, but you cannot push your body too far lest it break."

She flushed slightly. "Hai…Hayate-sama…"

Hayate looked at Kasumi. "Kasumi…"

"Ha-hai!"

"You have done a great deed in assisting us, though you are deemed traitor to our clan…I shall do what I can to see if I can at the least remove the mark on your head, though do not expect to be able to return."

"If you can remove my need to fear for my life…I will be eternally grateful."

"I shall endeavor to do my best at that."

"Be safe…Hayate-nii-san…"

"Ein, you'd better come back!"

"I will Hitomi. That I promise."

With that the two ninja leapt from the balcony and into the sunset.

"Well…should we order in tonight?"

Hitomi and Lei Fang agreed.

"Ayane…do you-

"Tuna and Salmon-

"Along with miso soup and marrons glacés. Not a problem."

Ayane's eyes widened. "You…"

"Remember your favorites? Of course! I wouldn't be a very good sister if I forgot, even after all this, now would I?"

Ayane simply looked away…confused.

_How…how can she still care about me like this…after all I've done?_

* * *

How indeed? Well, we all know Kasumi is a very caring soul. I hope you all enjoy this. It WOULD be longer…but the second knockout seemed like a good place to stop. I wonder…if what few readers I have will figure out what Ryu and Ayane were talking about…

Mou…no reviews this time…but hey, this is on someone's alert list…so I guess that works.

Ctrl+ ' I gotta remember that. Accents are Ctrl + '. I didn't know that till today, and I had to fool around a bit before I could pull it off.

The spell from above translates to:

"I am where heaven's light abounds, you are where the underworld's gates open. Come forth, lightning of the Gods! Indignation!"


	4. Synch

**The Shattered Blade**

**Chapter III: Full Synchro**

For the next few days, Ayane had been puzzled. Her confidence in her past choices was shaken, her confusion mounting. Watching her half-sister interact with not only Ayane herself, but the other two ex-participants of the past DoA tournaments made Ayane contemplate things she never thought of before…

It was one of these nights that her thoughts lead to a troubled sleep.

(BGM: Wild Arms 5 – At the Frozen Depths of the Heart)

_Why? That would seem to be the question. It started when that bastard Raidou attacked the village…no…it started before that…before we were even born…when he raped our Mother. Why was he banished? Why was he not killed? When he returned and stole the Torn Sky Blast, the village heads decided to leave him be. Why though? Why did they attempt to sweep it all away, as if it were a dream? Hayate-sama was horribly injured…one of our most powerful techniques was now lost to us…and one of our strongest turned traitor._

_And yet…when Kasumi left to do what the village should have sent others to do…she was branded a nukenin…classified traitor…and was marked to be killed._

_Kasumi…I've always been jealous of her…even when we were children…treated like a spoiled princess, while I was shunned like a leper…yet she held no arrogance, no ego…I always thought of her as weak…a fool…where she held the easy road of being honored, loved…I walked the difficult road of being alone, hated for something I had no hand in…and yet…she was always stronger than I._

_Why?! Why didn't they send someone else instead?! Why did they leave it to her to leave the village in pursuit of Raidou, and then as she did what they should have been doing, brand her a traitor?! Why didn't __**I **__chase that bastard?! It should have been me! They hated me anyway! But no…I chose to stay behind…to follow orders…all in a twisted fucked up hope that they would recognize me as a person…and not the cursed spawn of Raidou…_

_I chased her…__**we **__chased her…hunted her…she had me…had us…at her mercy many times…and yet she never finished us…I thought it was a sign of weakness, that she was inferior…but now…being stuck, unable to perform my duties…I realize…it was strength. It takes a great deal of strength to stay one's hand when faced with death…_

_It's funny…I find myself actually hoping that Hayate-sama succeeds in removing the mark on Kasumi-baka's head. They branded her traitor for doing what should have been done…she does not deserve to be tied down to a collective of fools like that…she who has always followed the way of the ninja for peace…_

_Perhaps now…now that DOATEC is weakened…Hayate-sama can go over those rules…and perhaps change things…indeed, traitors should be silenced, for the good of the village…but our definition of traitor…that truly requires reformation…_

With that last thought, she fell asleep.

* * *

The next day as the others were about, a figure stumbled out of Kasumi's room.

"You're awake!"

Zero groggily looked at Kasumi.

"Too…much…pink…"

Kasumi blinked.

"See?! I told you your room was too fucking bright! But nooo, you don't wanna listen to me!"

Kasumi huffed and turned to her half-sister. "I happen to like pink!"

"Obviously! The way your bedroom is practically COATED in all shades of it makes that quite apparent!"

Zero just gave a half-lidded stare between the two girls.

"Could someone tell me what I missed? I've kinda got a huge blank spot in my memory that's only matched by the size of the bump on my head."

Kasumi bustled around finishing her breakfast preparations. Hitomi passed by Zero and motioned for him to sit. He did so and Kasumi plotted a plate of various food in front of him. Blinking rapidly…he looked up as if asking "is this mine?" Kasumi made a flicking motion with her wrists, telling him to eat.

And eat he did. He had second helpings of everything.

"God damn…do you ALWAYS eat like that?"

Zero sighed in content. "You try spending god knows how long unconscious, without food…see how you eat then."

"About that…what exactly do you remember?"

"Well…I remember the Tri-Tower…the ring…that naked glowing chick…warping here…seeing Topless over there…and then black…then waking up feeling like I was moving really fast…seeing some really badass looking guy…and then white…"

Hitomi puffed out her cheeks in irritation. "Topless?!"

"Well yeah…you weren't exactly wearing a shirt when I first saw you…and you know what they say about first impressions."

Hitomi flushed and grumbled.

"So…what happened in between the blank spots?"

"Well…a few days after we came here…you attacked Hayabusa-san."

"Huh?"

"Ryu-sama said you were possessed by the Dark Dragon."

"Again? Dammit Tiamat what did I tell you about that?!"

**Well excuse me for worrying that he was going to **_**KILL **_**us!**

Zero frowned. _Explain. _**He has the Dragon Blade…he was the one who shattered my sword two and a half years ago. When I sensed the Dragon Blade, I thought he was going to kill us…so…I…kinda panicked.**

Zero blinked, then sighed and put his face in his palms. "Why is it that every time you panic…something gets the crap knocked out of it?"

**I can't help it! I destroy stuff! It's what I do!**

"Oi! What the hell are you talking about?!"

Zero jumped slightly. "Gah! Oh, jeez I forgot you three were here…sorry, I kinda space out when I'm talking to Tiamat."

"Who's Tiamat?"

"You know her as the Dark Dragon…"

"You can talk to it?!"

"It's…a long story."

"Oh that's right! I have to contact Hayabusa-san! He said he would have a gift for you when you awoke!"

**A "gift?" I don't like this. **_Oh relax Tia. At the very least we should see what it is. If it's bad, we can do that little warpy trick of ours. _**Hmph…fine…but I still don't like it…**

* * *

Kasumi delivered the message by carrier Falcon. She instructed Zero to get some more rest while they waited. A few hours later, the bird returned. The message stated to go to the nearby park. In that time Lei Fang had once again appeared. She opted to join the group, considering the sudden appearance of Kasumi, Ayane, and Zero a week ago sparked her interest.

The group arrived at the designated meeting point. Zero tensed as he sensed something happen.

"I see you can feel the effects. Do not worry, what you just felt was an illusionary barrier being placed around this area…it will keep unwanted eyes away."

"You could warn a guy before you pull a stunt like that…"

"My apologies."

Ryu and Hayate appeared out of thin air in front of the group. Lei couldn't help but comment.

"I don't care how many times I see that, even when I'm on the receiving end of it…that is so freaking cool."

Kasumi smiled brightly, Ayane smirked, Hitomi gave a soft giggle, Zero just blinked stoically, and Ryu and Hayate's reactions couldn't be seen considering the lower parts of their faces were covered by a mask.

"So…why am I here?"

"We wish to offer our thanks. You have done us a great service by defeating Kasumi's clone…"

"And you have relieved me of a great deal of fear when you saved the lives of my sisters."

"Sisters? You mean Red and the Lightsaber chick? Oh wait, speaking of which…"

Zero reached into his pocket and pulled out the "hilt" of Ayane's double energy blade.

"Almost forgot I borrowed this. Meant to give it back earlier…but being unconscious and immobile tends to keep those sorts of things from happening."

In mid speech he tossed it back to Ayane, who deftly caught it.

"Yeah…thanks…"

"Sisters huh? Well…I guess I can understand where you're coming from…"

"Tell me…we wish to know the name of our ally, so we can better thank you for your services."

"Name? Hmph…" Zero looked away, pensive. "I don't have a name…I used to…but it lost its meaning months ago…but if I were to have one now…it would be Zero."

Hayate's eyes widened. "So you are the one my informants have been speaking of…the shadowed presence that protects younglings…and slays those who would harm them."

"Yeah…that sounds about right."

Ryu stepped forward, pulling a blade from behind his back, sheathed. "Then this would serve as an effective reward for your services."

Zero's right eyebrow rose. "Really now…a sword…well…I could use a weapon…"

He grasped the sheath with his left hand, taking it out of Ryu's right. He placed his right hand on the hilt…

**Hey…wait a minute…that's the-**

Zero drew the blade.

**Shit wait! Put it back!**

Zero blinked. "Huh?"

Suddenly the blade glowed a fierce red. The sword fired arcs of crimson electricity into Zero's body. He gave a loud scream of pain as the demonic blade attempted to subjugate his soul.

**Zero! Dammit I knew it was a trap!**

_**Destroy…**_

"Zero-san!" Kasumi was held back by Hayate. They watched as Zero's body began to glow purple, counteracting the red.

_God…dammit…what the hell is this?!_

_**Destroy…**_

_What? Destroy what?_

_**All…**_

_Why…the hell would I want to do that?! That doesn't make any sense!_

_**Destroy…All…**_

Zero grit his teeth in pain. _Look you effing piece of scrap…total destruction is meaningless! I don't care what you are…no way in HELL am I listening to you!_

The purple glow suddenly receded, and the red took over his body. Ryu's hand shot to his blade, ready to draw…when a silver glow surrounded Zero's body, just under the red. Within moments, it flared, and the red glow was forced back into the demonic blade, which flew out of Zero's hands. He fell to his hands and knees, panting heavily.

"Shit! That…fucking hurt! I don't care…how badass you are…as soon as…I stop…this damn…twitching…your…ass…is…MINE!"

Tiamat flowed some of her power into Zero, attempting to relax his muscles.

"God…DAMN that hurt! What…the FUCK…was that thing?!"

"Please, accept my humblest apologies. The blade is known as the Kitetsu…it was once the blade of a greater demon lord known as Doku. I…appropriated it off of him when I defeated him two years and six months ago."

**I knew it. The demonic blade Kitetsu. A powerful weapon, but it slowly corrupts the minds of its wielders. That was the voice you heard. The advantage to the blade is that it drains the life force of its opponents…and if wielded by one of demonic blood, their souls.**

_Well that sounds useful…pity it tried to FUCKING KILL ME!_

**Not so much kill you…but twist you to do its bidding. You have not the demonic blood to resist its pull. But…considering your will and beliefs…I am unsurprised that it could not take hold…though I expected that it would be **_**my **_**power that silenced it…not yours. You are getting stronger Zero…**

"Well thanks for the blade, problem is it tried to possess me. And I've already got a Dragon God bound to my soul; I don't need some weird-ass sword trying to take me over."

"Indeed. I am quite sorry…the blade…was a test…to see if you wielded the Dark Dragon…or if the Dark Dragon wielded you."

Zero scowled. "Oh dammit why did you have to go and tell me that?! Now I can't irrationally hate you!"

"Pardon?"

Zero slowly stood to his feet. Kasumi, now released from Hayate's hold, helped steady him.

"Your reasoning…makes too much damn sense. Because of that…I can't be properly pissed at you for pulling a stunt like that."

Kasumi leveled a heavy glare at Ryu. _However, _I _can._

Ryu was about to speak again, when a beam of red light fired into the sky from the ground away from them. When the light faded, standing before them was a creature with the body of a bull, but wings like a bat on its back. It stood upright, its three eyes cast around, scanning the area.

Ryu's hand went for his blade.

"A Demon Lord? Here? What is it you seek, beast?"

"I am Belthazar. I sense the power of the Dark Dragon in this place. Its power shall grant me the strength to rule the underworld!"

Zero scoffed. "You're assuming you would even be able to use the Dark Dragon's power. The blade's been shattered for two years now. All that is left are weakened shards. None of which could grant you the power you seek. Leave us in peace Demon."

"If my senses have led me astray then your souls will have to suffice!"

The bull-like demon lord raised its arms, and in a spray of dirt and stone, seven red lizard looking monsters rose from the earth. Immediately two of them curled into a ball and began spinning in place. They rocketed towards the group, which scattered; ninjas taking to the air to leap over the creatures, and the three others rolling or hopping to the side. The group engaged their opponents fiercely…however the three normal humans were unarmed, and their attacks were ineffective against the monsters.

Zero went for a punch to one of the lizard beast's scaled faces…upon impact however; he stumbled back cursing in pain.

"Fuck that hurt! Like punching a fucking wall!"

His momentary lapse in concentration caused his target to swing its tail and smack him in the face, serving to knock him into the air, and land harshly on the ground. Immediately he felt the Dark Dragon's power flow into his wounds, slowly healing him. Another lizard barreled toward him, bringing its claws upon him.

Zero barely evaded the strike from the lizard beast's claws. However, his roll placed him in the way of a different attack. The second lizard beast roared as he rolled, and breathed a wall of flame upon Zero. The flame grazed Zero's body, setting his jacket aflame. Quickly he pulled it off and tossed it to the side. The magical flames almost instantly burned the jacket to ash. Zero was about to make a move when the past few seconds had finally registered in his mind. He froze, a look of horror on his face. Surprising even the monsters, he whirled around and ran to where he absentmindedly tossed his once flaming black jacket. As soon as he reached it, the flame vanished…and all that remained was ash. He dropped to his knees.

"No…"

(BGM: Wild Arms Complete Soundtrack – Oh, Abby Maiden)

He grasped the ash in his hands, shaking. "No…this…this can't be…"

**Zero…**

His vision blurred as tears came to his eyes. Unseen to him the ring of shards around his right hand began glowing softly.

"ZERO-SAN! LOOK OUT!"

He paid Kasumi no heed. Images ran through his mind.

"That was…my last treasure…"

"PERVERT! GET OUT OF THE WAY!"

Hitomi went ignored by the youth. He saw a girl, not much younger than he, appearing alongside his parents. They claimed they found her along the road, the jacket the only thing she had on her. His vision flashed. He saw himself, sparring with the girl, smiles on both their faces.

Away from Zero, one of the red lizards roared as the horned demon that summoned them laughed at his potential kill. The ring glowed stronger.

Another flash. He saw himself unwrapping a present. The jacket the girl was wrapped in folded neatly inside. He looked at her puzzled. Her green eyes shined as she told him she wanted him to have it…

The demon lizard curled up and began rolling in place, spinning like a buzz saw. Lei Fang now yelled his name, trying to get him to move before it was too late. The glow became a blinking light.

His vision flashed again. This time he saw his home aflame, the bodies of his parents sprawled on the ground. The girl, slowly bleeding to death as a group of armored humans carrying guns slowly walked towards the two.

"My last link…"

One final sight…the girl, bleeding and battered…dying in his arms…she smiled one last time…just for him…before the life within her faded.

"Lynn…"

The lizard picked up speed. The others were too far away to act as it barreled down upon Zero's exposed back. The shards began to rotate.

**Zero…we could always get another jacket…** _No…this was a gift…from my sister…_Tiamat gasped. **Oh…Zero…I'm so sorry…**_Everything…is gone…every bit of them…that jacket was my last link…now…I have nothing…_

The lizard was moments away. The horned demon gave an exclamation of triumph. The glow intensified.

_They will pay…they will pay…_**with their blood**_…_

The spinning lizard approached Zero, about to slice into his back…when it stopped.

The glow became a brilliant shine.

The lizard was frozen in place, held by an intangible force. Zero slowly rose.

"You took away the last bit of my family…"

The ring was rotating so fast that it began sucking in the air around it. Suddenly a swirling violet orb engulfed Zero, originating from the ring.

"For that…I shall give no quarter."

A cocoon of glowing symbols appeared around Zero's body, concealed within the swirling orb. The bands of symbols exploded, as if being ripped apart.

"Behold…our **Full Synchronization…"**

For the first time…the Dark Dragon's mind mirrored Zero's thoughts. Both wanted nothing more than to slay those who destroyed the last vestiges of Zero's ties to his long deceased family…the last link to his beloved sister…

Suddenly, the orb blinked out of existence. The lizard could move again…but was suddenly stopped. Thin purple lines appeared all over its body…and moments later it exploded in a wave of flesh and blood.

(BGM: Devil May Cry 3: Reunion)

A black figure faded into existence just behind where the now destroyed Majin once stood. The figure was tall and humanoid in shape. Pitch black scales covered its entire body like armor. Five claws on each hand emerging from black gauntlet covered arms, with a curved sickle like blade extending from just above the wrist to just past its elbow joints on both arms. A slender waist leading to thin, armored legs that ended with forked claw-like feet. On its back were two long slender protrusions about three fourths of the length of the rest of its body; ending in jagged, sickle like blades, folded behind and slightly away from him like wings. Its head, armored as well, showed what looked like a round flat facemask showing two glowing red eyes. Two flat "horns" stuck out from the uppermost sides of its head…and most importantly of all…

Was the feeling of dread it emanated.

The entire group, humans and Majin, were frozen in terror from the feeling this creature gave off. Even Ryu took a step back, his mind fiercely attempting to fight the feeling within him that told him to flee, a usually unvoiced instinct within him…an instinct all living beings held when faced with a being that gave off the power that felt like it could tear their very souls to atoms.

The demon, Belthazar; the one who summoned these Majin, used his telepathic link with his charges to override their fear and force them to attack. The lizards all curled up and began to spin like buzz saws. They rocketed towards the strange black glowing creature. Suddenly the creature vanished in a flicker of movement. What followed was nothing short of slaughter.

A black flicker would appear near one of the lizards before moving on. Mere seconds after the flicker showed, the Majin would be torn to shreds. This process repeated for all twenty lizards.

The flicker returned to its original position, near the ashes of Zero's coat.

"Great Kami…what _is _that?!"

"I would be unsurprised if that was your friend, Kasumi."

"Zero-san? That…thing…is Zero-san?"

Hayate mused briefly. "Well…it appeared after Zero was engulfed by that orb, which we can only assume was created by the Dark Dragon…but why he would transform into that…let alone how…is the question."

"You do not sense it as I do…the one known as Zero and the Dark Dragon…are currently one and the same."

"What? Oi! Ryu! How is that possible?"

"I do not know. It seems to have started when his jacket was destroyed…"

"That idiot! Almost dying because of a jacket!"

Suddenly the ground rumbled. Four large brown insectoid creatures emerged. Their brown bodies shined like armored skin, a single eye adorning their "faces" and scissor like claws. Ryu readied his blade, and the others went into a fighting stance before…it…crossed their path. It simply appeared to the side of them…and walked in front, holding its arm out. A voice…not male…not female…but both; the male deep and powerful, the female high and regal, spoke from it.

"**Stay thine blades. These beasts and their controller belong to us. If thy assistance is at all required, thou shall know. Our pride is not so great that if we find ourselves in a troubled spot we refuse to call for help. But we doubt that will be the case here. Rest now, thou hath performed admirably…"**

The creature glowed a deep black.

"**This battle belongs to us."**

(BGM: DMC3 – Vergil Battle 2)

One of the insectoid creatures charged at the being.

"Wait…are you Zero…or the Dark Dragon?"

The being turned its head.

"**We are both…and we are neither…in this form…you may call us…Zeromaru."**

It turned back to the insectoid and vanished. It appeared in front of the creature and pivoted, slamming its foot into the Majin's "stomach" and knocking it away. It turned its head, and everyone followed its line of sight to the Kitetsu, lying unsheathed on the ground where everyone originally came together. It twitched…then moved…then suddenly rocketed towards Zeromaru, spinning like a saw. Zeromaru flickered over to where the fallen Majin was getting up, and stepped back a few paces. The sword angled itself to its side and continued its flight path, slicing through the "neck" of the creature, and landing in Zeromaru's hand.

_**Destroy…**_

_Listen here you stupid thinking piece of metal. See that bull looking motherfucker over there? I'm going to destroy him. And YOU are going to help me whether you like it or not. And after that, you're gonna do everything I tell you to do. Got it?!_

_**You…worthy…understand…master…**_

_Good. Tiamat, do your thing._

**With pleasure.**

During the mental exchange between the mind of Zero and the sentient demonic "soul" of the Kitetsu, the blade was attempting to once again override Zero's will with its insatiable lust for souls. However, once again Zero's will served to be stronger than the blade's, and with his promise of blood to it; it relinquished itself over to Zero. Everyone watched the blade flare red as crimson sparks ran up and down Zeromaru's right arm…only to be repelled by a silver glow. A purple glow overlapped the silver and both flooded into the blade. The blade glowed purple…then silver…then back to its normal red.

**Done. The blade's essence has been purged, the curse lifted. Now it will still drain the life force of those you cut with it, but if you use your Eyes of the Death God, you can potentially seal the souls of your opponents within it.**

_Sweet. Now…what say we finish these fuckers and get to the good part._

**Gladly. Uploading now.**

Zeromaru glowed black once again. Its red eyes flashed. One of the remaining three Majin leapt at Zeromaru, claws open, aiming to slice it in two. However Zeromaru stepped to the right and swung its new blade down, cutting off the creature's left claw. Yellow fluid spurted from the newly made wound, but the Majin would have no time to revel in its agony.

The armored being quickly flipped the blade around in its hand so it was held like a dagger. A leftward slash sliced off the rest of the Majin's arm. Zeromaru continued its movments by flipping the blade around again, holding it normally, and bringing it diagonally up from the right cutting through the Majin's lower torso, before spinning and bringing the blade down in a double handed vertical swing that severed the demon in two.

The two halves fell apart and dissolved into yellow liquid as three small yellow orbs appeared where it once stood, and then flew into the blade.

It quickly dispatched the other two Majin with similar tactics, and then stared down the Demon Lord.

"You have done well, but I will take those shards from you!"

"**You are welcome to try…fool."**

Zeromaru threw its blade at the winged bull like monster, but Belthazar used one of the metal bands on its wrists to knock the sword away, high into the air. However he didn't expect a follow-up attack.

"**Tempest!"**

Zeromaru flickered in front of the demon and delivered a solid punch to its midsection. That was quickly followed up by a left hook, then a kick with its right heel. It leaned back and placed its right palm on the ground and lifted its left foot for a second kick, this one to the monster's chin. Zeromaru flipped itself upright and then extended the blade on its right arm, slicing into the bull-monster's torso. It pivoted on its right foot, following up with a similar swing using its left arm blade, then it angled itself and made a diagonal kick with its left foot, followed by another with its right.

Not done, it landed and then twisted itself like a top horizontally, extending both arm blades to slice into Belthazar's torso a few times, and then land. STILL not finished he leapt off the ground and curled into a ball, extending both arm blades as well as "wing" blades and tore into Belthazar like a saw. One last flip and then a swift fist to the bull's face, sending it backward.

Zeromaru held its hand up and caught its once errant blade and got into a stance. Blade held with the cutting edge facing the heavens, Zeromaru positioned its left leg in front of it with its right pressed behind, leg muscles coiled and ready to spring at a moments notice. It brought two fingers along the flat side of the blade, a glowing mixture of silver, purple and red swirling around it.

"**Kore de owari da!"**

Zeromaru shot forward just as Belthazar rose. It started with a lightning quick thrust, then pulled back and drew the shadow blade from its sword. A diagonal downwards slash from right to left, followed by the second blade doing one from left to right, repeated three times then a horizontal double slash going in opposite directions, before it combined the blades at their hilts and twirled them between its hands like a staff, repeatedly cutting into the demon's body. At the end of that it separated them again and moved into a vertical spin, once again sawing into the demon. As it landed, in mid spin it placed the shadow back to the blade and jammed the sword through the demon's chest. A second after that, it slammed its left fist into Belthazar, glowing purple. A half second after impact, the energy contained within its punch detonated and ripped Belthazar off the sword as it sent him flying.

"**Hi-Ougi!"**

Zeromaru flickered and appeared behind the Majin, right in its flight path. It drew the shadow blade from the Kitetsu again and crossed its arms in front of its torso. It leapt forward and slashed sending two powerful crescent shaped waves of energy through Belthazar, along with the blades themselves, throwing him back the way he came.

"**Arashi Kokuryuu Zan!"**

Seen only by Zeromaru, a field of energy shattered around Belthazar.

**Now! Finish him off!**

Zeromaru jammed the Kitetsu into the ground and raised its right arm. The shards of the Dark Dragon blade spiraled into place, forming the ring.

"Hey, that's the thing he used to defeat Kasumi's clone!"

The group, especially Ryu, watched in interest as four of the ring's shards grew slightly but instead of pointing forward, they pointed back, almost like a brace. A small bulge appeared around where the tips of the reversed four met the angled three. The three remaining shards rotated and grew, extending over Zeromaru's hand and forming what looked like a cannon. At the tip of the cannon a small orb of energy appeared, surrounded by rings of light, and rapidly grew. After the orb grew enough, it launched and slammed into Belthazar. The demon roared in agony upon impact…however it wasn't over yet.

The three lengthened shards reduced to a slightly smaller size and immediately returned to their original position, along with the reversed four…looking almost like a satellite dish.

The shards once again began rotating and the orb that had engulfed Belthazar lost an outer layer as fragments of light flew towards the ring. As if the fragments made a pathway, the orb flew from the Majin back to Zeromaru's hand, absorbed by the ring…which promptly vanished.

Thrashing around in agony, Belthazar roared one final time before shattering into millions of pieces. Zeromaru dropped to its knees, and the others ran to its assistance. A silver glow overtook it, as the purple bands once again cocooned around it. There was a small flare of light, and the bands cocoon seemed to expand, as if containing some form of explosion. The bands faded into Zero's skin, and he dropped to his hands, panting.

He reached for the Kitetsu, and upon grabbing its hilt, the red sparks shot up his arm. However instead of pain, it caused him relief, as the sword emptied the energy it gathered into him, restoring him to normal.

_That…was wild. _**I have to agree. **_You ever do that before? _**I didn't know I COULD do that. Never once, has anyone wielding my power, EVER had the connection we seem to have developed. **_Looks like this was supposed to happen then huh? _**Yes it does…**

"Zero-san! Are you alright!"

"Yeah…I'm fine Red…just a bit tired…give me a few minutes."

"What the hell was that?!"

"Beats me…even She doesn't know."

"I meant about the Jacket!"

Zero's face clouded. "Oh…" He stood up, much to Kasumi's worry.

"Should you be-

"I'm fine Kasumi."

The redhead silenced herself. Not once did he use her given name, preferring to call her "Red". This was serious.

"Alright…I guess you deserve an explanation."

Suddenly a loud nose sounded from him. Zero blinked and looked down at himself.

"Uhh…but maybe _after _we get food. Apparently I'm hungry."

That's when the pain set in. He winced and grabbed his stomach.

"Yeah…I'm definitely hungry."

Other than Ayane, Ryu, and Hayate, the group chuckled, though Ryu was giving a hearty laugh inside his mind. Ayane was still puzzled from the events of this morning, her questions burning to escape, but she held them in. _Calm down Ayane…let the man eat, he's earned it. I'll grill him later._

Before they began to leave, Zero pondered. "Now what am I going to do with you?"

His question was directed towards the sheathed blade in his left hand.

"If only I had a Vector Trap…"

**Well…I don't know what the hell **_**that **_**is but I think I might have a solution…**

"What's a…Vector Trap?"

Zero stared. "Don't tell me NONE of you have played Z.O.E.?"

Confused looks. "Oh great Kami I'm traveling with a bunch of heretics…where, WHERE is Ethan and his Church of Gaming when you need him?!"

**If you're quite done confusing our present company, I'd like to put that blade away for you.**

Surprised, Zero spoke aloud. "How?"

More confused looks. Tiamat rolled her eyes. **I've recovered enough power to start making pocket dimensions. You can put the sword in one of those, and be able to draw it out at a moment's notice.**

_Sweet, you mean like a Bag of Immense Holding?_

**A **_**what?**_

Zero shook his head and sighed. _Just do it._

The blade vanished from view. The others looked shocked. "Pocket dimension. I'll explain later. I need food. Bad."

The group nodded. Ryu and Hayate claimed they would meet back at Kasumi's apartment, and leapt off.

"Frigging ninjas always showing off…"

* * *

Alright reviews!

Confused DOA Fan: those headings indicate music that works best at that specific point. It's part of my writing style to "suggest" songs to play at certain points in a chapter to add to the dynamics of it. Not to mention that's what I had in mind when I wrote that part. The songs generally add to the chapter and since I tend to write my stories like I would an anime or manga series, the music is practically required to get the full feeling. Kinda like a movie, only the headings are to inform those what I had in mind, RIGHT when it happens.

Ayane basically CANNOT be as composed as you think. For multiple reasons. First of which being that save for three or so people, her entire village treated her like a leper. Then, she finds out that it's because some asshole raped a very important woman in the village, and the woman gave birth to her. So basically, from what it seems like, since before she knew it looked like she had some near romantic class feelings for Hayate, who turns out to be her half-brother, that's ANOTHER point to her instability. On top of all that, after Kasumi left to do what the village themselves should have done, they sent her (among others, but she was the most notable one) to kill her own half-sister, one of the few people that treated her like a normal person.

If you think about it, Ayane's really fucked up. Stuck between choosing to have the recognition of the village, and the life of her sister, she chooses to have the village, and goes after her sister to kill her. From what I could gather she HATES Kasumi, all because Kasumi was treated like a princess, and Ayane like gum on someone's sandal. Then, Genra gets captured and turned into Omega, so though she got her half-brother and leader back, she had to go kill one of the most important people in her life, which she did.

Not to mention, as seen in this chapter, I plan on having her experience confusion, uncertainty, and just general unknowingness. She's a ninja, stuck to the shadows, unable to truly release that which was held within. So cursing repeatedly at her sister and ending up talking to an unconscious body are the least of the quirks of her personality. Honestly? Look up her past. Piece things together, she literally CAN'T be as composed as you'd think. Ayane's anger was mostly directed towards the idiots of the village and Kasumi, so since she's STUCK being around Kasumi, her ire being present more often than not is expected ne?

Improbable yes, but not impossible. Ayane never 'ports in the game series, nor in NG, so though it's ASSUMED she can, it's never shown she can, thus, in my story, she can't. Kasumi only does short hops in battle, and I'd assume the little warp thing she does at the end of certain battles is actually an illusion technique. Remember, ninjas are the masters of illusions, shadows, and death. So her not being able to port herself, let alone her sister out of a situation like that is understandable, if you look at the facts and use logic. Though I do like your nickname for them.

Plus, have you ever fought Alpha-152 in DOA4? I haven't, but I've seen that thing in action. It's a friggin BEAST. Teleports randomly without you even having to attack it, its attacks are insanely fast, it can knock you down to damn near no health in a single combo, cut your health in HALF with a single throw or counter…yeah, it's not unexpected for Ayane and Kasumi TOGETHER to have a tough time with it in a more realistic setting. As for the normal human being…well, at one point he was…but after spending six months with the power of the Dark Dragon flowing into him…he's not exactly normal anymore now is he?

As for the potential overpoweredness, of course he will be…eventually. Look at things logically. Ryu is badass, no question about it. But his power, his speed, his strength, are all his own. He WORKED to get to that level, and he's basically a normal human, besides the fact that he's a ninja. Zero was a normal person before the Dark Dragon came into his life. Not only that, but the Dark Dragon slowly seeps its power into the one wielding it. If it's power could make Murai do THAT, and he only held it for all of two minutes before that fight…imagine what it can do for someone who holds a piece for six months!

The power you saw Zero wielding wasn't _his _power. That was literally the Dark Dragon manifesting to protect Zero. Think of it like Kyuubi from Naruto. When Naruto uses ANY of Kyuubi's power, he gains a red aura, and when he taps a tail, the aura takes the form of a tailed fox. That's the idea behind Zero and Tiamat, only difference is, since Zero only uses his power, no aura. When he uses an ability activated, or enhanced by Tiamat, a purple aura appears for a brief moment. The battle last chapter was ALL Tiamat. Zero was unconscious, but since Tiamat is inside his soul now, she could still see. She sensed the Dragon Blade, and feared not only for her life, but the life of the one she's been stuck with for months.

Think of it this way. The Dark Dragon is basically a God. Tiamat, being the Dark Dragon, is inside Zero's soul. As such her power is internalized within him. Because of that, she can take over from time to time, it doesn't happen often and it's usually a desperate situation when it does, like Zero said. What everyone saw last chapter was Tiamat fighting Ryu through Zero. Hence the dragon shaped aura, the growling, the animalistic like attacks and the insane amount of power behind everything. The most important thing you have to remember is **Zero was unconscious.** Tiamat did all that on her own. And the _difference _in their abilities, power, and control was shown when Zero began to awake. He doesn't have the skill or control yet to hold that level of an attack, thus it exploded on him. That's why Tiamat was so worried just before Zero fully awoke; she had activated an attack skill that Zero could not use, and we all saw its effects.

Besides, I wrote that fight like a Ninja Gaiden boss battle. In NG you're gonna get hit. A LOT. _ESPECIALLY _from bosses. No matter how good you are, they're gonna catch you with something more often than not. And their stronger attacks are **devastating.** So while Ryu may be a friggin godly ninja, remember he got _KILLED _by Doku at the beginning of Ninja Gaiden, who was WIELDING the Dark Dragon blade. So actually FIGHTING the Dark Dragon, a god class enemy, while not even expecting a battle, being caught unprepared, AND not even having his blade at full power; it's expected for him to get smacked around a good bit. But if you noticed, he evaded most of the attacks, and even stated the worst of it was the Indignation.

Ryu was fighting a God, and he was severely outclassed. If his blade were at full power, if Ryu had been prepared, or if Tiamat's Aura didn't have such defensive capabilities, he'd have been able to hold his ground better. But considering that he was up against the sentient manifestation of HALF the Dark Dragon's power…yeah, it's not surprising he got smacked around. He may be the "Super Ninja" but he's still _human._ A human, no matter HOW powerful up against a God? That human would need every bit of skill, knowledge, and power to stand a chance.

Anyway, I'm glad you like the story so far besides all that, and I hope this helped clear some things up.

Damn…good thing there was only one of those…I'm on page 23 already! Ahh for the translation…

"Kore de owari da! Hi-Ougi! Arashi Kokuryuu Zan!"

This is the end! Ultimate Technique! Dark Dragon Tempest Blade!

I wanted to call it Twin Tempest Dark Dragon Blade Dance…but I couldn't figure out how to properly align the words without it looking and sounding stupid, and possibly wrong. Ehh, Arashi Kokuryuu Zan sounds cool enough. Speaking of "Zan." I wonder if anyone will recognize where Zero and Tiamat's "Full Synchro" form came from…


	5. Rescue

**The Shattered Blade**

**Chapter IV: An Interruption**

Zero stretched his arms and legs. After eating as much as he did, a good stretch was required. He gathered his thoughts and turned to his audience.

"As you know…the name I go by is Zero. I've been chosen by the Dark Dragon herself to find fourteen shards of the Dark Dragon Blade, scattered when the blade was destroyed two and a half years ago…"

He made to continue when a rather loud ringing noise sounded through his mind. His left hand shot to his forehead as he winced in pain. His eyes closed…but rather than the darkness that permeates all vision in such moments…images flashed through his mind.

_**A girl, held by a much larger man.**_

_**A woman, being pulled aside, clothing being torn off.**_

_**A little boy, slipping out of the grasp of his captive and fleeing.**_

_**A man, familiar, stopping the other from giving chase.**_

Zero dropped to his knees.

"Zero-san!" Kasumi hopped to her feet, approaching the youth…when the ring around his right arm began glowing.

**Fear…**_Tiamat? _**Fear…sorrow…desperation…and lots of it…**_Tia what are you talking about? _**Something…familiar…is coming. Balcony…go to the balcony.**

Not saying anything, but still holding his forehead, Zero shuffled over to the balcony…his vision flashed and suddenly he was seeing multiple colors, along with strange black lines covering the multitude of people walking by.

_The Eyes of the Death God…Tia, why did this suddenly happen? _**Look down…**

He did so, and saw something unusual. Where most people had glowing blue, red, or grey bodies, one, a small figure, glowed purple.

**I feel…myself…Zero, someone down there has a shard…it's small, and weak, but it's feeding off of their negative feelings…but the strange thing is…those feelings are MUCH stronger than they should be…**

_Should we go see? I mean, the Ring is acting weird as well…_**It might be a resonance reaction…if it is…it might be able to help us track the other pieces…**

_Yeah, but for now, we have to find out what's causing this…it's not much of a drop…_**You can make it.**

Zero nodded and hopped onto the railing.

"O-Oi! What are you doing?!"

He looked back, a strange, blank look on his face.

"I don't know…but something is calling me…us…it feels…important. I'm sorry, but you'll have to wait for your answers…"

Before anyone could react, he slipped off the railing. Kasumi reached out but missed him. He dropped a few feet and then flipped. He landed softly. His eyes, still enhanced, tracked the purple glow. Ryu and Hayate leapt after him, taking to the rooftops. The others took the doorway.

Suddenly his eyes dropped out of their enhanced state. He saw the one that the purple glow belonged to.

"Kenji?"

The little boy with dark brown hair turned. "Z-Zero-nii?"

"Kenji…what's-

The boy ran into Zero's legs, clutching him. "Zero-nii! Mama, Mikoto-neechan!"

"Whoa, hold on, what's wrong?"

"Papa…he…he's going to do something bad to Nee-chan and Mama!"

_Tch, figures…I knew I didn't like that guy for a reason. _**The shard…it's become empowered…**

(BGM: Wild Arms Complete Soundtrack – World of Loudening Screams)

"Kenji, listen to me…I need you to tell me, was Mikoto still wearing her pendant?"

"Y-yes. I've still got mine too! But…but how is that going to help?"

_Tia, can you? _**They **_**are **_**siblings…and if her shard has become active as well…theoretically, I SHOULD be able to use that as a conduit and enter her mind…though I would no longer be in yours…**

_It doesn't matter. I need you to keep her calm for now. Go to her, Kenji will lead me to you. _**It shall be done.**

The ring flared with light for a moment…and then Zero felt an empty space.

"Kenji, Tiamat's gone to your sister. I need you to take me as close as possible to them; can you do that for me?"

"You're going to save Mama and Mikoto-neechan?"

"Yes…yes I am." _Dammit, why does shit like this keep popping up?_

"Zero-san!"

Zero looked back and saw Kasumi and the others racing to him. He stood up solemnly as Kenji slid behind his legs.

"Kasumi…something important has come up…I might need your help."

_He used my name…_

"H-hai! What is it you need of me, Zero-san?"

"Come with me for now…I'll explain when we reach our destination."

She nodded and Zero turned back to the little boy. "Lead the way Kenji."

* * *

"She's not struggling…good, that means Tiamat was able to calm her down…" Zero activated his second sight again. "But they've got your mother pinned…we'll have to act swiftly, and without incident…"

He blinked, and turned to those gathered behind him on the roof near the alleyway. "I don't, however, like the way her captor's hands keep sneaking towards Mikoto's sensitive spots…"

**I'm sorry Zero, there's not much I can do right now…**_She still kept up her Karate lessons right? "Yes…why?" Gimme a sec…I think I got something…_

"Alright, here's the plan…we'll need a distraction. Something completely unexpected, and something that _wont _put either Mikoto or Yuki-san in danger…"

**Smoke bombs… **_What? _**Ask the ninjas if they have any smoke bombs… **_That could work…_

"Anyone have any smoke bombs on them?"

Kasumi shook her head sadly, Ayane cursed at her forgetfulness; Hayate looked down, but Ryu…

"How many would you need?"

Thinking quickly, Zero responded.

"Three. Two for the plan, one for insurance."

"Insurance?"

"It's simple. I launch a smoke bomb near Mikoto's captor. Tiamat takes her over for a little bit and breaks her free. As Mikoto is leaving I toss the second near Yuki-san and stun her attacker…Kasumi."

"Hai!"

"I've seen a few of your matches. What's the range of that little teleporting trick of yours?"

"Ten feet…twenty if I push myself."

"How many times can you do it?"

"About five, before I have to rest. I haven't had the chance to increase my stamina or else…"

"Five will be fine…alright, when that second bomb goes off, I need you to 'port in, grab Yuki, and get out."

"_What about you?!" I'll be fine, just worry about your part._

Ayane piped up. "Why don't we just kill the bastards and get it over with?"

(BGM: Shin Onimusha Dawn of Dreams – Hideyoshi's Decisive Battle)

"Because if their bodies are found, the authorities will know it to be ninjas, and will start hunting. Shikato is part of a very influential company…not DOATEC level, but close. No…we should avoid deaths if possible…"

"_Zero! They've cut off mother's shirt!"_

"Fuck…we're out of time. Hayabusa!"

Ryu handed him the three smoke bombs. "Gods above and Gods below…guide my hand…"

He hurled the first smoke bomb. It made a loud banging noise and a grey cloud engulfed the alley.

"What the hell?!"

**Now! **Mikoto let her mind go, and Tiamat took over. However, unlike the possession of Zero, since Tiamat wasn't bonded to the black haired girl, she could only do what Mikoto's natural abilities allowed for. Thus, using the surprise of the smoke bomb's detonation, she slammed her right heel onto Mikoto's captive's foot. The man released the girl, and Tiamat whirled Mikoto's body around and delivered a palm strike to his nose, followed by a low kick to his left leg, and then a spin kick to his chest, knocking him down.

**Clear! Go for it Zero!**

Zero hurled the second smoke bomb. Seconds after, both he and Kasumi took off from their positions. Zero, using his second sight, locked on to his target, a man maybe a foot taller than him, on the verge of violating Yuki. He grabbed the man by the back of his shirt, surprising the target. Zero quickly slammed his foot into the back of the taller man's leg. With that maneuver, his target fell backwards, stunned by the follow-up; a heel to his chest.

While Zero was handling the thug, Kasumi slipped in, grabbed Yuki, and the two of them made short hops out. Kasumi and her charge safely made it back to the rooftop, where Hitomi gave the older woman her jacket, which was gratefully put on.

The smoke cleared.

"Damn…I should have known you would find some way to interfere…"

Zero spoke in a tone none present save the Dark Dragon had heard.

"But of course. When such actions are taken…I cannot just stand idly by…"

"Tch…you cost me a good deal of money brat."

"Oh really? And how, pray tell, did you plan on getting money out of having your wife and daughter raped?"

The elder man laughed.

"Oh that was just some fun for the boys. You see, Yuki is quite well off…it's why I married her. The whole plan was to get to her, have her meet some…unfortunate accident…and claim her money for myself. It's a pity you had to screw up my first plan however."

_First plan…wait…_

"So you were the one behind their kidnapping."

"Yeah. And it would have worked perfectly too if you didn't stick your nose into shit. The brats would have been gotten rid of, the bitch would have 'died of grief' and I'd be a lot richer."

The way the elder man so casually talked about it struck a cord in Zero's mind.

"Akira Yamaguchi…wanted in five different provinces for the murder of upwards of twenty different women…"

The man's eyes narrowed. "How the hell did you figure that out?"

"It all makes sense. The problem with people like you is that there's always a trail. Your scheme was to create an identity, capture the heart of a successful woman, lead her to her demise, and reap the rewards…"

"There's one flaw in your theory…where would all the money go?"

"The company you work for. They have their hands in the underground, so why not use your channels through your own company to find a secure area to hold multiple funds? Stage your own death after it gets too hazy…then take another identity and start all over again."

"You're pretty smart for a kid…too smart for your own good. I don't know how you managed to get the brats away, but you're not leaving here alive."

Flanked by his two cohorts, Shikato, or rather, Akira, pulled out a pocket knife.

**Shit, Zero! **_Stay with Mikoto! I can handle this!_

Unfortunately, things wouldn't go so easily.

"You bastard!"

From behind Zero, Mikoto charged her step-father. _Gah! What the fuck?! Tiamat what are you doing?! _**It's not me! She's wrenched control away from me, I can't hold her back!**

The man sidestepped her initial strike, only to fall prey to the follow up attack. The other two ran at Zero. The one that was once holding Mikoto swung his left fist, which was deflected to the side by Zero. He countered with a solid punch to the man's stomach, followed by a knee to his face, which was turned into a spinning jump kick to his head.

_Dammit…looks like my fears were just…I've relied too much on the presence of the Dark Dragon to enhance my abilities…Tiamat! Stop trying to hold her back; you'll just get her hurt or worse! Focus on helping her!_

**I'll try, but there's not much I can do. At the most I can give her a few bursts of energy…but…her body isn't trained to resist the side effects of my power, she won't hold out very long.**

Zero ducked under the other man's swing, retaliating with an uppercut to the chin, followed by ten rapid alternating punches to his chest, ending with a spin kick to the face.

_What's her limit? _**Fifteen, no Twenty. Twenty-one max. **_Fine, when she's about to get hit, or when there's a definite opening, boost her. When you hit twenty, I don't care if you have to knock her unconscious, use the last boost to get her out of there! _**Alright, I'll try.**

The others were watching the fight.

"Dammit why aren't we helping?!"

"Because we cannot be seen. His intention to keep from killing complicates matters. If we are spotted, and our observers not silenced, we might become hunted for attacking a supposedly upstanding citizen."

Ayane scoffed. "Fucking politics…"

Kenji was holding onto his mothers hand tightly. _Come on nee-chan, Zero-niisan…you can do it!_

_SHIT!_

Zero dropped his guard for a moment too long and was being held in a strangle hold from behind. He struggled, trying to get free. _Dammit! That's it, when I'm done with this shit; I'm going back to training!_

His mind flashed back to one of the lessons his 'sister' gave him.

"_**Manly or not, when you're fighting for your life you use whatever you have to in order to survive!"**_

_Whatever it takes…tch…well, the upside is I have a cool reason to do this…instincts of the Dark Dragon and all…_

Zero nudged his head forward slightly…and slammed his teeth down on his captor's arm. The man yelled out in pain and Zero swung his head back, releasing the man's arm, but slamming the back of his head into his captor's nose. Whirling around, he smashed his fist into the left side of the thug's face, following with his right fist directly into the man's nose.

However, his focus on the one made him loose track of the other. A swift punch to the back of Zero's head disoriented him greatly, which was capitalized on by him being lifted and thrown into a far wall.

_FUCK! Ahaaa…god that sucked…_

"Wait...shit…"

Zero got a view of what was happening with Mikoto's fight. Akira looked quite bruised, while Mikoto's dress was in tatters from near hits and wide swings…however…she was at her limits. The fourteen-year-old girl was felled by a backhand to the face, followed by the elder grabbing her by the hair and throwing her into a wall as well.

"Damn little bitch…looks like I'll get to have you dead anyway!"

He flicked out the knife and started towards her.

Everything seemed to slow down…

(BGM: Chrono Trigger Back 2 Skala OC Remix)

Kasumi made to move, but Ayane was faster. She leapt off the roof.

Zero's eyes widened. _Mikoto…dammit…I need…I need to stop him…_ He didn't see Ayane…Tiamat did…but knew the purple haired girl wouldn't make it in time.

Zero's mind once again flashed back to a lesson from his 'sister.'

"_**Energy is all around us. Where it comes from…how it's made…why it exists, nobody knows. But I can tell you this…it surrounds us. It's in the food we eat, the liquids we drink…the air we breathe. You can do this. All you have to do is feel the energy within you, around you…once you do, it's simple to manipulate it."**_

"_**But I've tried everything! Dammit it's just not working."**_

"_**Come on, when have you been the type to give up?! If I can do this you can! You keep forgetting…you've got a greater output than even I do. You have massive potential; you just have to work for it."**_

_All around us…if Lynn was right…if energy is indeed everywhere…then it collects…it gathers and saturates. And a saturated object can be manipulated…and if an object exists…it can be destroyed. And destruction is basically the same thing as death…_

Unconsciously his second sight activated. Only this time was different.

_Tiamat said the second level of the Eyes of the Death God can see the 'deaths' of inanimate objects…if there really is a bunch of energy gathered in the air…then its basically become an intangible inanimate object…and if that's the case…_

His eyes, now silver, flashed. A jagged spiked looking ring appeared within the silver irises. The world changed color. His mind, focused on seeing the energy within the air, making it heavy and semi-solid, creating an inanimate object, made his eyes see the currents of the winds. He raised his left arm to his right shoulder, grasping the air as if holding something. Unknown to him, he had subconsciously summoned the Kitetsu from its resting place.

_The energy in the wind merges with the particles that create air, making it visible to those with trained senses. If I can just see this fusion…_

A flicker of black crossed his vision. A black streak flashed in the air. Ayane grew closer to the two, her hand reaching into her outfit for the shuriken she always held there…but she was too late.

"DIE!"

Mikoto, paralyzed by fear and fatigue stared horrified as her step-father pulled his arm back. The two thugs eyes widened in horror as the demonic blade in Zero's hands flared red.

Zero slashed his arm, holding the Kitetsu, down along the direction where he saw the black line. The energy around the blade cut through the random amounts of energy within the air and dissipated it. However, that caused a vacuum of wind to surge forth. The Kitetsu's own energy permeated the vacuum, forming the displaced air into a crescent shaped wave of light that rocketed away from Zero's position.

Ayane saw the flare of red light and rolled to the side, after a moment of shock.

The wave sliced through the two thugs like they were nothing, tossing them back from the force of the displaced air surrounding the wave and then moments later segmenting their bodies in two. Their blood sprayed along the alleyway's ground.

Akira froze in mid step, noticing the flare of red light out of the corner of his eyes. He immediately jumped back, narrowly evading the crescent wave itself, but still being hit by the vacuum created from its passing. The wave slammed into a wall and dissipated, but the winds fanned out and kicked up a great deal of dust, along with shredding the metal trash bins nearby.

**Dear…gods!**

Everyone stared at the destruction made by the new attack. The point of impact was splintered horribly and everything nearby was ripped to shreds. It wasn't until a solid smacking noise did everyone snap back to their senses.

Zero, gaining his second wind, slammed the hilt of the Kitetsu into Akira's face. He swung his blade, creating another crescent wave, only this one much weaker, that slammed into Akira and smashed him into a wall where this time EVERYONE saw something shatter around him.

"I already lost one sister…I'm NOT losing another!"

The ring of shards around his wrist flared to life and quickly made the claw. The claw reached for Akira, and then fired its gathered power impacting and ripping the man to atoms instantly, not even giving him time to scream.

Tiamat flowed through the links back to Zero's mind. Zero turned around, sheathed his blade, and then banished it back into the sub-space pocket Tiamat created for it. Not moments after that, Mikoto ran to him and pulled him into a tight hug, which he happily returned. Ayane pulled back, watching. The others hopped down from their observation spots. Kenji ran to his sister and grabbed on to her as Yuki slowly approached, helped by Kasumi and Hitomi.

Lei Fang placed her hand on Zero's shoulder. "Nice moves."

Zero shook his head. "I'm too weak…I should be stronger than that…my stupidity almost cost Mikoto her life…"

Mikoto blinked at that. "What are you talking about? You _saved _my life! A second time I might add."

Zero looked away. "I had a feeling…and it turns out I was correct…I've been relying too much on the Dark Dragon for her support. True, I can handle myself rather well in a fight without her, but to have to provide support for others…I'm still too weak…"

Ryu clasped Zero's shoulder as well. "Which is what makes you the perfect wielder of the Dark Dragon."

Zero looked up, confused.

"You realize the consequences of using its power too much. You've also come to understand that without its power, you are not as strong. You have proven yourself to be far more worthy of wielding the Dark Dragon than others, for you have understood these truths, and not become a slave to the power."

**As much as I hate to admit it, Hayabusa is correct. Everyone else who wielded my power was consumed by it, believing that they were invincible, a god even. They lusted for more of it, thus they created more chaos and carnage for me to draw from…but you…you understand the difference between you with my power and you without. You willingly use my power, but you do not overuse it. And you also realize that you have your limits when I'm not around. Those who lost access to my power before you, they were unprepared for their weakened states…while you anticipated it slightly. Your sister was right…you do have massive potential.**

"I guess…still, I need more training before I feel ready to do something like that again…"

Yuki approached. "Zero-sama…"

"Yuki-san…how many times have I told you _not _to call me that? I'm not that special."

"You've saved my family twice now; I shall call you as I wish."

"Guh…well…shit…I can't…really argue with that…"

"Please…if there is any way I can thank you…"

"Seeing you three alive and relatively unharmed is thanks enough for me…"

She shook her head. "I still feel that I owe you…"

Annoyed, Ayane cut in.

"You still owe us those answers."

"Oh yeah…I was about to explain when this started wasn't I…"

"Hey! You can use our house!"

"Wha-huh?"

"Mikoto is right…our garden is more than big enough for you and your friends Zero-sama. Please…it is not very far from here…it is the least I can do for interrupting your business."

Zero sighed in defeat. "Alright…as long as they don't mind waiting a bit longer."

The others agreed to the deal. Yuki smiled.

"Good, now with that settled, lets leave this place…"

Again, everyone agreed. Hayate and Ryu 'ported up to the rooftops after stating they would follow from afar to make sure nobody suspicious trails them. Everyone else followed Yuki.

_Lynn…thank you…_

* * *

Alright, originally this chapter was to be longer, but…well…now I gotta think of how the Garden is gonna look… If the chapter looks a bit…choppy and uncoordinated at points, that's due to me waiting too damn long to start writing it and all the information slipping out of my head.

DoA Fan: Go watch a few anime with tomboyish girls in it. That's how I view Ayane. She sounds like she speaks like an American highschool student, but that's only because your reading English. It would basically be the same thing in Japanese just…different sounding.

You'd be right. This is an original storyline taking place in the DoA universe, so if it looks a bit strange, that's why. As such, it will include mentions of, objects and ideals from other media (not too much though). Mostly though, I'm aiming to keep it in universe. Meaning if I throw something in that's far out there, there will be a massive logical explanation for it.

As for the clone thing, it's all based in realism. For a gameplay mechanic, they didn't give her projectiles or anything like that, but in realism, she'd be much faster and stronger than both Ayane and Kasumi. Remember, I only showed the point where they showed up where Zero was. Nothing was stopping them from having the upper hand during that entire fight up until it knocked them into that part of the tower. This whole story, along with many of my others, will include moments where you have to think outside of what's shown.

As for GS class…it depends on how you view things. He WILL become insanely powerful, more so than the DoA characters, I mean he DOES have the Dark Dragon backing him. However he's not a ninja, he was a normal kid who had a few interesting moments in life before he got the first shard and started his "quest". Most of his enhanced abilities, as shown in this chapter, stem from the Dark Dragon. Without it he's only as strong as his training leads. He's not gonna go around WTFPWNING everything he comes across though, even when more shards are acquired. The ninjas do their thing, the other characters do their thing, and Zero does his thing. His ultimate goal has very little to do with the main characters of DoA, so when it comes down to his consistant allies being only a few people, you'll understand why.

He can't do everything…though I AM planning on giving him the ability to fly eventually…I kinda have to, it's my greatest wish in reality, and I reflect it upon all of my characters. But it's not like he'll be the only one getting stronger. There have been hints and openings for the current cast to grow more powerful, most specifically the wonder twins as you called them. Trust me when I say you'll find reasons to keep reading.

By the way, you got an e-mail address or something? You'd get your answers a lot faster, and it'd shorten my author's notes considerably. Not that I'm complaining or anything, but I don't want someone to bitch about my chapters containing too much AN and not enough story…

Darkness in light54: Oh? And what is it that you figured out?


	6. Potential

**The Shattered Blade**

**Chapter V: Truth**

(BGM: Okami – Seiankyou Nobles' Quarters II)

"You have a very beautiful garden, Yuki-san."

Indeed she did. Behind her family's ancestral mansion was a massive garden covered in Cherry Blossom trees. Small, man made rivers flowed throughout, dividing the land in sections with bamboo bridges linking the lands together. Sunlight rained down from the canopy opening, giving the land a heavenly glow.

"Aa, thank you, Kasumi-san."

_She would have loved it here... _**Who? Lynn? **_Yes…our house was rather bland and small compared, but I know she would have loved to visit this place at least once…_

"Zero-nii?"

Snapping out of his thoughts, the young man turned to Mikoto, who was holding his arm, a worried look on her face.

"Sorry…spaced out there…right."

He turned his head to the side, a contemplative frown on his face. He nodded to himself and stepped away from the group.

**Hey wait a minute. I didn't hear a thing you just thought! What are you doing?**

_Giving you legs._

**Giving me-wait what?!**

"Zero?"

Suddenly his body glowed a fierce purple, putting the ninjas on edge, and making the others step back. A silver undertone shimmered into view beneath the purple. Slowly, small strands of silver light began to swirl into the purple glow, merging the two together. Crossing his arms, the glow intensified, and by swinging them open, he launched the aura away from him, it taking the form of a massive purple sphere. The sphere slowly floated from his position, and then touched the ground. A few flashes of energy, and the sphere began to collapse.

"What the…"

From within the sphere emerged a girl. She looked young, perhaps no older than sixteen. She wore little more than a black gown and a pair of sandals. Long deep violet hair flowed down her back as milk white skin reflected the sunlight. She opened her eyes and blinked a few times, as if testing them out for the first time. They were a brilliant crimson.

Zero dropped to one knee, panting. The girl whirled around and ran to his side.

"How the hell did you-no, no. First thing's first. Are you alright?"

He nodded. "Yeah…just got a bit winded there. I need to do that more often." He slowly stood with the help of the girl. Kasumi quickly grabbed a spare lawn-chair and opened it for him to sit. He nodded his thanks. Mikoto handed him a small glass of water, which he gratefully drank.

After seeing him recover slightly, Yuki asked first. "Zero-sama…might I ask what that was? And who your friend is?"

"That…was me kicking my tenant out for a bit." A few confused faces. "As for who she is…well…everyone, meet Tiamat, the Dark Dragon."

"WHAAAAT?!"

"You gave her a human form?"

"How did you do that?!"

"I too would like to know how you pulled this off."

"It's simple really. You're a lingering spirit sealed within a blade, which now uses my body as a host. By using my own energy to repel yours, and then entwining the two energy patterns together, I created you a quasi-physical "body" to project yourself as. You can interact with things, but not do much else. It will fade after a while, how long I'm not sure, and you or I can cancel it at any time, but ultimately since it's _my _energy that created the body for you, I can choose how and when it fades. Though if I do it too sharply, or you REALLY want to stay, the backlash of our clashing wishes will cause a bit of strain on me…"

"Define…_a bit_."

"I dunno…depends on how bad it is…could be from a simple case of sudden fatigue to…worst case scenario being knocked into a coma for a while to maybe death? But that would only happen if I pumped your form full of energy, and then ripped it all away to cancel out the projection. A backlash like that would be expected because of the sudden return of such mass amounts of power."

"…you've been planning this…haven't you?"

"Well…kinda. It wasn't until we got the ring that I would have been able to do this…because of the pact, as you get stronger, I do too. I'd say…for every shard we recover that is big enough to restore a segment of your power…I'd get…maybe a third of that power? Yeah, a third sounds about right. It's roughly equivalent to maybe…a year and a half of spiritual training and energy manipulating. It would have taken me years to get this far, if we'd stuck with only one shard."

"But…why?"

He shrugged. "Boredom. Wondering if it was possible…take your pick. Plus, you've been basically contained and confined to a singular location, never shifting, barely awake for how many centuries now? One would figure the chance to stretch one's legs would be welcomed…"

"Wouldn't that mean she could enact her power if she so chose then?"

"Not at all Yuki-san. See, the body already existed. Made from my blood, on the day of the pact. All I did was call upon that pact, and infuse some of my spiritual energy into the blood that flows through the two of us. The blood, empowered by the willing connection between our existences, enhances the amount of energy that flows between us. As such, since it was _solely _my blood that was used as the grounds for the pact, I am the one in which the pact is bound. Therefore, I am able to control how much, or how little power she has, at expense of my own."

Some of them, especially the kids, were still confused.

"Ahh…lets put it this way. Yuki-san, you watch anime with the kids, right?"

"Yes."

"You've seen Naruto, right?"

"That is their favorite show…next to that one about Shinigami."

"Right, so you've seen how Summoning works in that world, correct?"

"Yes I have."

"For those of us who don't know, in the Anime known as Naruto, their take on Ninjas have the ability to warp time and space to summon creatures they've signed a 'Summoning Contract' for. They sign it with their blood, perform a few hand seals, and depending on the chakra they give, they get a creature of varying strength, depending on the contract signed. The show's main character, Uzumaki Naruto himself, has a contract with amphibians, mostly frogs, whilst his teacher, Hakate Kakashi, has a contract with canines. As such, depending on how much energy they put into the summoning, they can summon anything from the base form of the creature, say a tadpole or a puppy, to a full grown summon creature, like an armored bipedal frog or a giant bulldog."

"Wait…so…you're saying…depending on how much energy you give, you could have Tiamat as young as a baby?"

He blinked. "I…never thought of that…huh…but no, that's not what I meant, though theoretically I could…argh, anyway. What I mean is that the amount of energy I give to the body created, dictates how much she can do with that energy. The body is created by my energy giving hers a physical form. She can access her own energy, but only if mine gave her body the ability to channel it. It also depends on how much energy we both use. Like right now, because I surprised her with it, my energy is what holds the form, which limits her to maybe…five percent of her current maximum. If we were to say, make her have the form using my energy as more of the mould and contents than my own, she'd have access to more of her energy, and I would have less control over how much she can use or touch."

"Zero…if you don't mind me interrupting…could I see the memory of your fight?"

"Huh? Sure."

She raised her palm and rings of light surrounded her body. After a few moments, the arm fell limply to the side, and she dropped to her knees in shock.

"Uhh…you ok?"

"Genius…my host is a bloody freaking genius…"

Zero blinked. "Huh?"

She turned to the others. "You all know how devastating that shockwave technique he used was right?"

A series of replies. "Well, it was formed by him using his second sight…but even then it shouldn't have been THAT destructive…"

"'choo talkin' bout Tia?"

"You gathered the very existence of wind itself around your blade and formed it into a solid wave of massive destruction."

"Really? Huh…and here I was just wanting to do an aerial Majinken…"

"Oh you did alright…only it'd be more like a Shin-Majinken."

"Majinken?"

"A technique from the Tales Of series of games. Basically, whoever uses it creates a small white shockwave of energy that travels along the ground in a straight line until it impacts something. Gou Majinken creates a rising shockwave in front of the attacker, and Majinken Souga launches two waves of energy. To be honest, I've been wanting to give some more of those moves a shot…since Tiamat can enhance my natural skills."

He looked to the side. "But…as fun as all this is…we're getting off track…"

(BGM: Kingdom Hearts II Complete – Organization XIII)

"Might as well start from the beginning…"

_**

* * *

**_

_**My family was rather well off. Not overly rich or anything, but just right. Like any other normal kid growing up, I went to school, hung out with a few friends here and there, played video games, did a few sports and martial arts for fun…**_

_**I never did know what my parents did for a living. They both worked at the same place supposedly, and I just didn't care. We were happy, and I really had no interest in their work. I could tell they weren't being secretive about it either, but I wasn't too concerned about it. Neither of them sounded worried about anything, so I believed it wasn't dangerous.**_

_**I was always a little…odd though. Kinda out there, according to past attempts at dating. I believed in things that people thought disproven, or impossible. Even though news stories of Ninjas in the Dead or Alive tournaments ran rampant…nobody else seemed to think 'hey…he could be right!'**_

_**And then one day it all changed. My parents came back, holding a girl. She was clutching a purple shining thing in her hand, and shivering, wrapped in a black trench coat. My parents told me they found her in a ditch on the side of the road home. She didn't have a name, they said. So I called her Lynn. Cute little blonde thing she was.**_

_**We took care of her for a few months. Didn't tell anyone about her. After she recovered, she began training. I caught her a couple times, practicing some random martial arts techniques…and then she summoned fire into her hand. That alone threw me for a loop.**_

_**She remembered how I was talking about wishing how to do stuff like that…so she decided to teach me, as repayment, for being there for her. I tried to tell her if she honestly didn't want to she didn't have to, but she apparently wanted to anyway.**_

_**Over the past few years after we found her, she trained me. The physical aspects I picked up on pretty quickly. But being surrounded by disbelievers for so long slowed my spiritual and mental training. I never got past learning to feel the flow of energy around me. As a gift one birthday…the last one I spent with her, she gave me the very coat we found her in. It was still a few sizes too big for her, but fit me fine. Not long after that, my parents announced that they wanted to adopt her.**_

_**I'd already began seeing her as an older, if shorter, sister, so we were all happy about the idea…but then, a few months later…they came.**_

_**I was just coming home from taking a walk, when I heard gunfire. Running into the house, I saw Lynn fighting off four armored people. Before I could seize up, I grabbed a nearby chair and smashed it into the back of one of them. It didn't do much but annoy him, and he swatted me away like a fly. Right after that, he was incinerated by Lynn. But apparently she'd used too much energy. One of them shot her, right in the chest.**_

_**Screaming I ran back over to her. Oddly enough they stepped away. She said she was sorry she couldn't keep our parents safe. I told her to worry about herself. She knew she wouldn't make it. She gave me the pendant made out of the strange purple shard.**_

"_**Hold on to it…it's…very important to me…"**_

"_**I'm sorry…I couldn't…stop them…"**_

"_**Take…care…"**_

_**I don't fully remember what happened after that. Just that I was gripping the shard, and wishing I could do something…anything…against these people. I didn't even notice my blood slipping onto the shard, from the cut that formed where I was holding it.**_

_**And then my world went black.**_

_**A few days later, I did some snooping. I knew a few people that were damn good hackers. We found out that my parents worked for DOATEC…and they were the ones who sent the armored bastards out to kill my family. Nothing ever said why, just that there was a hit placed on them. I didn't find out until much later, that they were looking for Lynn. When my parents officially adopted Lynn as their daughter, the description matched with the girl DOATEC was looking for.**_

_**It was then, that I spoke to Tiamat. We made a deal. She would help me crush the ones who ordered the hit, and in return, I would help her collect shards. I swore to avenge my sister…my family…no matter what it took…**_

* * *

"Up till now, Tia's been helping in my training. Linking up with her allowed me the last step to access my inner power. I took a code name, changed my appearance slightly, and became a mercenary. Quietly, I put a hold on my family's accounts, and continued on."

Ryu spoke. "I think…I remember hearing about a family being wiped out in a fire…but…I cannot recall the name…"

Mikoto piped up. "Ne, Nii-chan…what was your name?"

Even Tiamat was interested. "Yes…what _was _your name? I never could access that part of your memory…"

"Tch…you all wanna know huh? Fine…"

He turned away and they watched as a slight shimmer surrounded him. He turned back around and they watched as his hair grew a shade lighter, his skin turned a lighter brown and his eyes turn from brown to black.

"Shinji…Miyamoto Shinji."

Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE let out at least a small gasp.

"The last Miyamoto…"

"Rumored to have descended from Musashi himself…"

"So that's who you were…no wonder you picked up the way of the Sword so easily…"

"_**Then I must thank you, Miyamoto-sama, for giving our sister, the peace she deserved."**_

Everyone turned to Kasumi, who had gone rigid and began speaking in an ethereal voice.

Suddenly, her body relaxed, but took on a very solid green glow.

Tiamat readied herself…but Shinji stepped forward, calmly.

"And you would be…"

"_**Don't tell me you've forgotten already. My stomach still hurts when I recall that Reppashou of yours."**_

"The naked living glow stick."

"_**If that's how you choose to remember me, then yes."**_

"Alright…how?"

"_**That ring of yours. Before I was fully destroyed, I was able to throw my consciousness into this body. She IS my original after all…"**_

"A clone…wait…that means-

"_**Yes…the one you call Lynn is…was…a failed clone of Kasumi. Much like myself."**_

Using his surprise, she continued.

"_**Kasumi was captured by DOATEC, her DNA analyzed and replicated. Hundreds of clones of her exist. Few are actually battle capable, and even then, they were defeated by their original. The majority still sleep, or have been used by that perverted bastard Victor Donovan as servants. Infer from that what you will, you'd probably be right."**_

Zero twitched at that. Tiamat flinched as well, feeling the sudden turn his thoughts took.

"_**The one you call Lynn, was one of the many outright failures. She was battle capable, but for some reason, it took a while for her to assimilate that type of information. Not to mention, she was blonde haired and blue eyed, which is not the original's look. As such she was slated to be eliminated, her body intended to return to the liquid in which it was spawned in, and added to the others' tanks. However…some of us didn't like that. Defeated in battle we could stand, but killed by the ones who spawned us…that did not sit well with us. As the ultimate failure, but yet, the strongest clone, I was able to take control for a while, and sent one of the successes out to give Lynn one of the shards of the Dark Dragon Blade Donovan had acquired and send her away."**_

Nobody knew what was going on in Zero's mind…nobody, save Tiamat. The dark thoughts running through the mind of her host surprised her. Surprised…and somewhat scared. He was freed from their contract. Both sides had fulfilled their parts, thus he was now able to access whatever amount of her power he wanted. She feared his possible corruption.

"_**It pleases me greatly to hear that she managed to escape and live a happy life, if only for a time. But I have one request of you, Miyamoto-sama."**_

"Speak. I shall hear your request."

"_**Please…destroy the clones. Return us to our original so we may rest…we who were not intended to exist."**_

"You are certain."

"_**Yes. We grow tired of existing for their purposes…all of us, from the moment we first wake, know we were not meant to live…return us to our original. That is what I ask of you."**_

"It shall be done."

That surprised her. _**"You…but…you don't want-**_

"If it weren't for you, I'd never have met Lynn, and I'd still be that little boy who dreamt, but never believed he could live his dreams. If it weren't for you, someone else would have managed to find that shard, and become corrupted by Tiamat's power. If it weren't for you, they would have found a way to complete the ring, and the world would have ended a lot sooner. So consider this a favor…for doing me a favor."

"_**I…understand. Thank you…Miyamoto-sama. I shall add my consciousness to Kasumi…so I may rest…and she may become stronger for it. Your ring…that is what will give Kasumi strength for each clone you send to sleep. I feel…as if she might need it."**_

"Very well." Nobody realized that he was slowly moving towards Kasumi's body.

"_**Thank you…Miyamoto-sama…"**_

The glow faded, and Kasumi's body dropped to the ground…or it would have, had Zero not anticipated what was to come, and caught her. He gently placed her in Hayate's hands, and stepped away. Tiamat looked quite worried. His thoughts were blazing around his head, flashing between points like a bolt of lightning. Tiamat puzzled over what she could possibly do to restore his mind from his turmoil…when the choice was taken out of her hands…

"So…the last Miyamoto yet lives…there are some people who would kill for that information…"

Immediately their eyes snapped to one of the sakura trees. An armor clad female walked out from behind its shadow. With a shuddering voice, Zero spoke.

"And you'd tell them…wouldn't you."

"Well…I could keep my silence…for a price…"

* * *

She heard everything. Tailing them from just outside the sensory range of the Ninja, she hid behind one of the many trees in the garden, listening.

_So that's why he became a mercenary…perhaps we aren't as different as I once thought…_

The red haired warrior closed her eyes and sighed sadly as she sensed the darkness brewing within her fellow mercenary.

_Damn…I need him calm and coherent before I can approach him with my request…it's the only way I can have a chance of him accepting…_

With a heavy sigh, she resolved herself to be the outlet for his struggling emotions.

"So…the last Miyamoto yet lives…"

* * *

(BGM: Chaos Legion – Choir of Curse Boss BGM Type 1)

"A price…Tell me…why would I pay your price…"

In the blink of an eye, he was right next to her. Her eyes widened as she could feel his breath on her ear.

"When I could silence you myself…"

A small flash came from his left palm, which was on her back. She was blasted forwards, towards the others. She landed face first onto the ground.

_What the hell?! I didn't even see him move!_

Scrambling to her knees, she hopped out of the way as he appeared behind her and brought his fist down on the ground where she once lay. Standing up, she summoned a red plated scythe to her hands.

_Maybe becoming a target for his anger wasn't such a good idea…_

He pulled his fist out of the ground and shook the dirt off it. Locking eyes with hers, she saw they'd become silver, with a jagged ring of black within the irises.

"Weapons already? Pity…I was hoping you'd last longer than that…"

He threw his right hand to the side, and in a red flare of energy, the Kitetsu appeared. Unknown to him, the others were shivering from the oppressive aura he was giving off. He stepped forward and vanished again.

The red haired warrior rose her weapon just in time to block an overhead swing from Zero's blade. She twitched as he hopped back, only to spring at her again, spinning his body around for a horizontal swing from the right. She blocked it and he bounced off her weapon and spun to the left. She twirled her scythe like a baton and deflected his sword upward. Unfortunately he used that movement to turn the deflection into a back flip that kicked her in the chin.

Stepping forward again, he slammed an energy charged left fist into her stomach, right in the weakest point of her armor. The detonation sent her skidding backward, as she had slammed the bottom of her scythe into the ground as a balance. Before she could recover, the scythe was kicked twice, and then slashed in half.

_He…he broke it…_

Stunned at the destruction of her weapon she was defenseless for his next assault. Another charged fist sent her back again, only this time, the ending was different. He vanished from view again. Suddenly a thin white line slammed into her. A cloud of dust appeared in front of her, followed by another. Another cloud to her left flank, and another line. One to her right front, and then another line. A cloud to her left and another line. Finally one last cloud and one final line.

Tiamat understood now. _This isn't the mercenary Zero…this is the budding potential of Miyamoto Shinji…_

Zero delivered a solid back kick to the warrior's chin, knocking her into the air. He swung his right arm in front of him, the Kitetsu hovering in place. He crossed both arms in front of him and then brought both hands along the hilt of the blade. The blade split in two, and he leapt into the air, vanishing partway to reaching the warrior. Suddenly all they saw was a series of crescent shaped white lines swirling around the warriors form, before the almost sphere like appearance exploded. The warrior's armor was shattered and flew all over the place before disintegrating.

(BGM: Organization XIII)

The female warrior landed harshly on her back while Zero landed in front of her, Kitetsu back as one blade. She was left wearing naught more than a ripped T-shirt and undergarments along with her leather leggings, but even those too were nearly ruined.

"Shit…I didn't…think you'd be this…strong…"

"…why."

_Figured it out huh?_

"You were…troubled…I needed…you…to have…a clear…head…"

He continued staring at her.

"I know…you don't…like us…but…you're the only one…that can help me…god…DAMN this hurts."

He turned away and looked at Tiamat, who hurled a jacket at him. He caught it and pulled the female warrior up, covering her with it. Kasumi, who had recovered, seemed to catch onto his thoughts and ran over with the chair Zero had long since vacated.

The warrior sat down, thanking the red-haired kunoichi.

"Alright Harken…what are you talking about."

"Please…call me Elmina…Lady Harken is just my title…"

"My question still stands."

"I…have a favor to ask you…"

Seeing the look on his face she sped up.

"We would pay you, of course. Rumor says you've been seeking strange purple crystals that give off a faint echo of darkness…Zeik…he…well…he has one."

"Really now…"

"But…that's where the job comes in…"

"Speak…and I'll decide whether it's not just easier to destroy you and take the shard myself."

It was then that she realized…she wasn't talking to the mercenary Zero…the one who would put his life on the line to save an unknown child…but Miyamoto Shinji…the boy who lost everything because of some foolish man's desires. It really would be a favor…rather than a job.

_I just hope that the promise of a shard is enough to garner his interest…or else I may never see my brother again…_

* * *

And that's it for this chapter. After months of trying to figure things out, I have a few ideas of where I'm going with this. The story's title…will have more than one meaning…

Yup: Sorry it took so long, but here's my character's background…and a hint of his true potential. Before you say anything though, he's not _hiding _his potential. He's actually been restricting himself without realizing it. By taking on the name Zero, he's been denouncing his past life, using only the bare minimum of it to press on. By re-telling his life's story, he reminded himself of who he was…and how happy he used to be. And no, Alpha won't be taking over Kasumi's body ever again. She WILL however be able to tap into some of its power though, because like it said, she is the original.

Yuki, Kenji, and Mikoto's characters weren't really too explained in this particular chapter, but I'll summarize. Akira from the last chapter, had claimed Yuki's heart, sired two children with her, and then planned to have them all killed so he could take the money she had. Zero was hired to rescue the kids a while back, and he succeeded. Along the way, he found two smaller shards, ones that weren't strong enough, even combined, to match the power of one bigger shard, so he gave them to the kids as gifts.

Ahh…the next few chapters are going to be interesting, me thinks…I've got some interesting ideas in line for this…I just hope it gives me inspiration to finish up my .hack fic…I'm almost there too…


	7. An End and a Beginning

**The Shattered Blade**

**Chapter VI: Evolution**

(BGM: Wild Arms the Best Rocking Heart – There's Only One Family Named Schrodinger)

"Waaa-SHIT!" Zero's body was flung into a near wall painfully. He coughed and sputtered, spitting out a mouthful of blood. The battle, if one could call it that, had not been going well.

In fact, the next move completely ended it. The armored man, Zeik thrust his mighty spear through Zero's chest as he lay against the wall. The young warrior's eyes widened in shock as he felt the bladed weapon pierce his body.

A scream of pure anguish erupted from the throat of Elmina, Zeik's sister, being held by two maid dressed Kasumi clones.

Next to the young warrior's impaled and bleeding body, lay the now shattered Kitetsu. It was in that instant that the blade broke did the battle fully turn against Zero's favor. It was bad enough that his eyes were unable to see anything, line or point, upon Zeik's weapon, but when a possibly decisive over-head swing was met with the demonic blade shattering suddenly…the battle then ended. Zero continued to fight valiantly, if pointlessly, hurling all forms of elemental and energy attacks possible…but the half-demon Zeik possessed power as well…enough to counter Zero's efforts. The following thrust was too fast…Zero had no time to recover, let alone call upon the Dark Dragon's power.

Suddenly, a bright violet glow behind the half-demon surprised the armored man. A glowing rift had torn itself open by means of the shard of the Dark Dragon Blade held in Donovan's hands. Understanding what it meant, Zeik lifted Zero's still impaled body and tossed it into the portal, banishing the young warrior to the Demon Realm, in the off chance the boy survived.

Elmina dropped to her knees silently. She _knew _Zero was strong enough to handle Zeik, even with the sudden upgrade he got through the shard…but something…something stopped the young man from doing _anything._ For a brief moment, Zeik held a look of pity in his eyes, his heart clenching from the sheer devastated look on his sister's face…but he steeled his emotions…only for a sudden burst of power to rush through him, propelling him through the air and onto his back next to his sister.

"What is the meaning of this Donovan?!"

"With that damned boy out of my way, I've no use for you. You have done well my pet, but now it's time for you to be put down before you become a threat!"

The Kasumi clones responded to the unspoken command, readying themselves for battle.

"You would dare betray me Donovan?"

"How can it be a betrayal when I never intended to honor our deal in the first place? Now with three shards, I can finally move on to the next stage…"

Zeik tried to rise, but found his energy nearly sapped.

"Oh don't bother trying to get up demon. The connection forged between you and the shard, however faint, is enough for me to control how much, or how little power you have…now my pets…kill him…kill both of them."

Lifeless the Kasumi Clones nodded, drawing their own weapons to deliver a fatal strike…when Zeik's weapon pulsed. Everyone watched as the blood from Zero's body streaked down the tip of the blade, onto the massive 'eye', just above the hilt. The 'eye' flared silver for a moment, then returned to its usual red. Zeik however…felt the connection between himself and the Dark Dragon Blade's shard vanish, his energy partially restored in an instant.

_My gods…Zed was right…this boy DOES hold the favor of the Dark Dragon…to think…he would show mercy…no. He shows me no mercy…_

Zeik cast a silent but quick glance to the nearly naked red-haired woman next to him.

_Elmina…I do not know how…but she has somehow gained the boy's favor…his blood reacts not for my sake, but hers. I shall not waste your gift Shinji Miyamoto._

With every ounce of strength he had, Zeik rose faster than the clones could react.

"Negative Rainbow!"

The world seemed to darken as energy gathered within the center of his demonic lance, Glumzamber. Slamming the tip of the lance on the ground, a wave of pure energy rocketed from the center of the weapon, filling the room with a blinding light and causing a great gust of air to blow through the area.

When the light faded, Zeik and Elmina were nowhere to be found, but Donovan noticed the shattered window. The clones made to go after them but the conceited man stopped them.

"Leave them be. They are no longer a problem."

One of the clones spoke. "Then shall we move on with the plan Master?"

"No…let us enjoy this time. All obstacles have been removed…we can wait a little while…"

What he didn't realize then…was that he was making the biggest and last mistake of his life…

* * *

Laying in the center of a crater, surrounded by a black dome of energy, body bleeding, battered and slowly waning…was Zero. Dead to the world, his heart slowing, mind weakening, the young warrior slowly slipped into the embrace of death…unknowing of the change that was to come.

"You have come for him."

On a separate plain of existence, a world unseen by mortals, the human personification of the Dark Dragon, Tiamat kneeled. She was on bended knees, next to the body of the young warrior, and last Miyamoto. Behind her a hauntingly beautiful woman, skin as white as snow, with flowing hair like waves of moonlight, wearing naught more than an open black cloak stood.

"Indeed I have. Though sudden, his soul must pass."

"I cannot allow that."

"Deity you may be, you cannot interfere with this natural order. His time has come."

"You know as well as I do, I have the power and obviously, the mindset to defy you Death. I can rend your precious natural order from its course and send this entire universe into Chaos."

The other woman, Death, faltered.

"But I will not."

Now she was just confused.

"I have no desire to see my Zero-kun die like this. I have no desire to let that foolish human Victor Donovan use my power to his will."

Death gasped. "You can't mean…"

"Yes…it is time I performed the Rite of Succession."

"He…is to be your successor?"

"Indeed. He has a much greater mindset than I did…and my power…it flows so freely within him."

"You are to make him the next Dark Dragon then?"

"Look at me Death. I am weak, old. Though my form is that of a young female…my power has not been complete in Millennia. I spent most of my existence sealed within a blasted sword, my power used and abused by foolish beings who thought it simple to wield…and then that accursed Hayabusa shattered my home, though not breaking my seal. Then…I met him…"

"What is it about this mortal that makes you choose such an action?"

"He showed me what it was I failed to see so long ago…"

"Finally."

Tiamat gave a hollow laugh.

"Yes…finally. He has shown me what it meant to be mortal…to be human…to have emotions. I now understand what it was I failed to so long ago. I understand the truth of my existence now…and for that I wished to be with him for as long as he lived…but it would seem the Fates have other plans."

"I was surprised when I sensed his soul reach this point…"

"I had no time to give him even a slight portion of my power…the shattering of the demon blade Kitetsu surprised us both into inaction…"

"**Something that irritates me greatly."**

Whirling around both Deities saw the ghostly form of the demonic samurai, Doku. Death prepared to excise him from their plain when he held out a single hand.

"**Stay thy weapon Lady Death, I seek no quarrel."**

"Then why are you here Fallen Spirit? You should have been sent back, to be cleansed."

"**The blade, Kitetsu, had fed off my soul long enough for us to be linked. When the boy's own natural aura repulsed, and then bonded with the blade, I became aware of his every move, unable to completely pass because of the part of my own existence tied to his weapon. With my beloved blade now shattered, my soul fades…however…the blade itself grew…fond of the boy."**

Death was impressed. "Interesting…not only does he gain the favor of the Dark Dragon, but also a soul eating sword…this boy is full of surprises."

"**Indeed. I am here to represent the blade's will. Though broken, it still has a majority of its power, and has sensed what you planned to do. It knows of what will come when you perform the Rite of Succession, and wishes for its will to be realized."**

"And what is its will?"

"**Your blade, the shards of which that housed your power, when combined with a piece fully released by the boy's blood, they fused into a powerful ring weapon capable of effecting the very physical structure of things. A power much like his sight, only based in the realm of the physical, rather than existence itself."**

"His sight?"

Tiamat held up a hand, requesting silence. She motioned for Doku to continue.

"**It wishes for its few shards to be used as such, bound together by the fusion between his, its and your power, to perform an action similar, only effecting the essence of an object, rather than its physical form."**

"And how, might I ask, does it expect me to be able to grant its request?"

"**The Rite of Succession transfers a Deity's knowledge and power into a receiving soul, correct?"**

A nod of affirmation.

"**Now that I have told you its will, you know what it wishes, and you can then transfer that knowledge to the boy. Thus HE will know its will, and can act upon it."**

"Impressive. Very well, because it seeks what I seek, the continued existence of my Zero-kun, I will follow its request."

"**Then my purpose here has ended."**

And in a wave of blue flame, the remaining essence of the Demon Samurai, Doku…vanished.

Death turned to Tiamat. "His sight?"

Tiamat smiled. "The Mystic Eyes of Death Perception."

Death gasped. "I thought that died out with Tohno Shiki!"

"I think my power sparked it within him."

"Amazing…how far did he get?"

"The third level…he didn't have the power for anything beyond that…but…"

"With the Rite of Succession he will. Very well. For doing me such a favor in showing you the truth of humanity, I'll remove the strain upon his mind such power has."

"You're giving him the full power?"

"Why not? Think of it as a test…to see just how special your successor is."

"…Zero-kun…I hope you forgive me for this…"

* * *

The dome constricted itself, changing from black to dark violet. Winds kicked up around it as the dome became a pillar of light. The pillar released a shockwave…and with that shockwave…every single piece of the Dark Dragon Blade…turned to dust.

The Rite of Succession had begun…and the Shards…parts of a blade connected to the old Dark Dragon, no longer held her power…thus were erased. All that power became centered upon Zero's existence. His body, once dead, suddenly lurched as new life awoke within it. It twisted, changed, grew…until he was Miyamoto Shinji no longer…

Now…the false persona he adopted…was now his new life…

On that day…the last Miyamoto finally perished…but in his place…

Zero Shinzaki…

Was born.

* * *

This chapter is much shorter than all the others due to this being a very good point to stop. The next chapter, which though not written, already has been planned out. There will be a timeskip. Somewhere between six months and a year.

Sakura999: man…what is it with people and trying to refer me to other sites? Am I that good? I'm not complaining, I'm just wondering…anyway, I'm glad you like the story. It's been a while since an update, but here one is. Not the same length, but hopefully similar quality.


	8. Return 1

**The Shattered Blade**

**Chapter VII: Return (Part 1)**

**Three Months Pass…**

(BGM: Wild Arms Complete – Castle of Flames (Prologue 1))

**DOATEC Compound: Germany (Night – 1:00)**

A shadow dashed across the snow covered grounds. The black blur darting from tree to tree, evading the flashlights of the guards, along with the high powered cameras. A small tuft of white lifted from the ground as a light shined upon where the shadowed figure once stood. The yawning guard at the other end of the small beam, dismissed it as the wind, which had oddly enough began picking up slightly.

The unsuspecting guard turned around to fall back upon his route…when he felt an unimaginable pressure suddenly build within his head. He dropped to the ground silently, unconscious.

_This one has family…he knows not what lies within these walls, his death is unnecessary._

The figure, still cloaked in shadow, deftly lifted the guard's body and swiftly broke the man's arm, cradling it with the man's free arm.

_Sorry, but this will help. It will look like you got taken down in a fight, rather than simply dropped…who knows, you might get a pay raise for it._

Swiping the guard's key card, the shadow vanished in another tuft of lifting snow…

* * *

**Inside DOATEC Compound: Germany (Night – 1:20)**

The shadowed figure quickly made its way out of the watch room. The few guards there were unconscious, draped over their consoles. Dashing silently down the hallways, the figure recalled how simple it was to stop the recordings of any and all cameras inside and surrounding the building.

_Really shouldn't have just put a "Stop" button there…_

Swiftly it made its way to the primary power generator. Kneeling, it placed one hand on the humming generator itself and another on the floor. In seconds, a glowing yellow light surrounded the figure's hand. Small bolts of electricity sparked from where he touched both generator and ground, the figure channeling the electricity into the floor.

After a few minutes, the generator had lost too much power, and shut down. Just as expected however, the emergency generators kicked in, casting the entire building in a faint red glow.

_Phase one complete…now…to get under this place…_

Slipping out of the generator room, the figure once again dashed down a series of winding corridors, this time to a small lift. Unfortunately, this is where it met a snag in its plans.

_Backup power doesn't affect elevators apparently…oh well; I'll have to charge the damn thing myself…_

A small spark of white leapt from the figure's hand to the console that summoned the lift. A slight rumbling could be heard…as the floor began to lower.

_The hell?! Oh…I see…interesting. The lift was built into the floor…while the doors in front of me probably lead to a separate location…_

The figure's musings turned out to be accurate as after a few moments, a loud locking sound could be heard as metal bars rose from the ground in a wide radius around him before locking into place. The makeshift cage began to lower itself deeper underground.

_Almost there…_

* * *

**DOATEC Compound: Germany – Clone Processing (Night – 1:54)**

The lift moved slowly. After what felt like hours, the cloaked figure's ride reached its destination. The iron bars lowered as a wire fence rose before him. He stepped out into a giant room of metal and machine. Bubbling, whirring, humming…all those noises and more assaulted his ears.

Giant glass tubes connected to the walls and ceilings were scattered all around. Within them floated the pale naked bodies of multiple young women. Blondes, brunettes, redheads…even the odd hair colored girl, like green or blue, were present.

_This must be where the failures were brought…_

A clang behind him.

"You are not familiar. I must say, I'm impressed you made it this far."

The cloaked figure said nothing.

"I'd been following your progress for quite some time. I don't know what it is you seek, but it was foolish of you to come here."

"I am here…only to fulfill a promise."

He turned around, silver eyes glowing brightly under his hood. A pair of black yet silver streaked bangs flowed from the darkness within. Before him stood a woman with short cropped blonde hair.

_Yes…definitely the failures…she looks like a blonde Kasumi…_

The woman in front of him drew a small blade. "I see…it is a pity then, that you will not be able to succeed."

The figure shook his head. Holding out his right hand a glowing light appeared. The woman's eyebrows rose at this. The light formed into a saber, its blade a beautiful amethyst, the hilt and hand guard a deep midnight blue. The sudden appearance of the weapon surprised the woman…which was more than enough of an opening…

In the blink of an eye, the woman's blade had been severed in two. She leapt away in a panic, only to suddenly feel a foot immerse itself in between her shoulders. Her body flipped forward where the cloaked figure appeared above her, driving five two fingered strikes into seemingly random locations on her torso before landing a palm strike to her left arm which sent her spiraling into one of the glass tubes. The glass held however, as the woman bounced off it, landing on her front. She clambered to her feet and tried to run at the figure, only to collapse to her knees as a spray of blood erupt from her mouth, coating a nearby tube.

"Th-this…h-hurt…in on-ly…two…moves?"

"Your pain will end in a moment."

Blood dribbling down her lip, the woman stared in amazement as the cloaked figure raised its right arm. A silver ring of light appeared around his wrist, which was then followed by what looked like a large transparent red bracer. Around the band and bracer appeared a series of black reflective shards, arranged in a cone shape just around the outside of the bracer.

A slight humming noise, like the sound of immense levels of energy becoming active, echoed through the underground lab.

Four glowing red points appeared, spiraling around the red bracer. The small orbs became lengthened, turning into what looked like fan blades made from hexagons. The blades spun at a slight clip, but began slowing as they arced their way upward. They passed through the cone, creating an arrow tip. Four more blades appeared at the edges, behind the cone, making it seem almost like a funnel. The four slowly rotating blades began glowing at the ends, a small sphere of energy appearing above the figure's hand.

The humming reached a crescendo and then stopped suddenly. In that instant, the blades stopped rotating as well, just barely touching the sphere in the center. As they did so, a brilliant flare of light emerged from the sphere.

The last thing the woman saw…

Was a series of arrow headed streams of energy, almost looking like colored strips of paper rocketing from the sphere and cylinder, impacting everything in their path…every single object the streams touched bursting to fragmented particles…

Everything…

Including herself…

(End Song)

* * *

Well…isn't this interesting? I'm sure it's obvious who this is.

About half way through I thought of going back, editing the last chapter and making it the LAST chapter of this fic, and having this be the prologue chapter of a new fic, a sequel of sorts.

I still think it's a good idea…

Lemme know what you guys think. I don't get many reviewers for this, so I guess the first two votes leaning to one side will decide what I do.


	9. Dark Dragon Returns

**The Shattered Blade**

**Chapter VIII: The Dark Dragon Returns**

(BGM: Chrono Cross – The brink of death)

"Damn…where are these things coming from?!"

Ducking under a swing of a giant axe from a boar looking demon, Hayate attempted to retaliate with an overhead slash from his own blade, only to find it repelled by the beast's armor. The demon seemed to loose a growling chuckle as it punted the white clad ninja away.

"Hayate-sama!"

"Ayane! Pay attention!"

The purple haired maiden narrowly evaded a horizontal slash from a four armed ninja-like demon. She was forced into a series of back-flips as the ungodly creature twirled repeatedly on its feet in a slightly angled spin slash. She sensed something behind her and leapt, spreading her legs wide open, allowing a modest sphere of flame to shoot right underneath her and crash into the multi-armed being. She flipped over one last time, and then activated her energy blades, carving through the monster in a series of slashes created by twirling the blade like a baton.

Jumping back, Lei-fang dodged a heavy blow from a tall humanoid demon completely covered in armor. She'd tried to land a blow on it once…and only succeeded in hurting her hand. She'd tried her hardest to stay calm and wait for some form of opening. Suddenly, the beast was blindsided by a wave of pink energy. Kasumi had seen her friend's plight and did the only thing she could to help, which ended up causing her to be caught by her two clones.

The armored demon stumbled as it wiped at its eyes, revealing a weak point on its back. All that armor was useful for guarding frontal attacks, but the back portions had gaping holes. Lei-fang quickly took advantage of that, grabbing a nearby fallen sword and taking to the air in a flying kick. The girl slammed both feet into the monster's back and after jabbing twice to further weaken it; she thrust the blade through it, felling it in moments.

Kokoro, who had recently joined the group at Yuki's home, was working in tandem with Mikoto, and her older half-sister Helena to defend Kokoro's mother and Yuki's family. Mikoto, who had hit her fifteenth birthday during the five months after Shinji's death at the hands of Zeikfried and Donovan, was swinging two small tanto's with expert precision. She had trained under the watchful eye of Kasumi, mastering one handed blades in no time. However, her efforts were not enough, as one of the many ninja-like demons simply knocked her aside and went for the helpless women and child behind her.

"Mama!"

In seconds, the demon had reached its prey…before it was cut in twain by the hurled scythe of Lady Harken. The red armored woman jumped in and retrieved her weapon, nodding to Miyako and Yuki before joining Mikoto and her group in defense of the home.

Soon, the fighters, which included Ryu Hayabusa and his allies Rachel and her twin sister Alma, were joined by Lady Harken's mercenary family. Her brother Zeikfried led the assault against the more heavily armored demons as Zed, a young man with green hair and a strange looking kodachi strapped to his waist, joined Ayane and Hayate. Berserk, a hulking beast of a man with a pirate's bandanna and a spiked ball on a chain joined Ryu's group in fighting the bigger ones.

Kasumi was alone however, as Donovan watched, glowing staff in hand, above the battlefield that was once Yuki's garden.

She was stuck in a fight against the two clones that Donovan kept with him wherever he went, the twin girls mindlessly fighting her, matching her move for move, only besting her because there were two, where she was one. They flowed like water, following up the other's openings gracefully. Kasumi would strike one, only to be knocked away by the other. She would duck under an overhead spin kick from one, only to be tripped and kicked into the air by the other.

She was losing…but she wasn't the only one. They were all losing. While Donovan could easily re-summon anything that was defeated, the humans and half-demons would slowly get exhausted. Even Hitomi, who was known to have beastly stamina for a girl her age, was becoming winded. Everyone's clothes were in tatters from the repeated narrow misses, their bodies covered in small cuts and bruises from the landed attacks…

Slowly but surely, they were being pushed back.

And then…it happened.

Kokoro tripped over a fallen body. Behind her a monster materialized from the ether blade prepped. Miyako's eyes widened as she saw what was about to happen to her daughter.

"KOKORO!"

The black haired youth flipped over only to watch as the blade slowly fell to her body…

_Time to step in._

* * *

If asked what happened on that day, the day they learned the truth of the fate of their dear friend, you would get multiple similar but differing stories.

Some would say that his ghost returned and took physical form.

Others would say he was never dead…

But the truth is something far more spectacular.

* * *

**SHIIIIIIINK!**

**SQUELCH**

"Wh-what?"

(BGM: Fate-Stay Night: Emiya)

In an instant, the barely fleshed demon, blade held over Kokoro's prone body, was ripped to shreds. Bloody chunks of bone and flesh dropped to the ground behind the girl as a spray of red covered her already stained school uniform.

It was in that instant, that looking back after learning of _his _original power that she would understand what happened. What went noticed but unheeded by her…was that the demon's blade was sliced in chunks as well.

_**The revived warrior danced, his targets seemingly frozen in time as he moved faster than any could perceive. A flick of his wrist and an arm was severed as he jumped over a soon to be fallen body and twisted, cutting through a torso in the process. Striking the torso as if kicking open a door, he would hop off of one foot, appearing next to another, where he would twirl again in three revolutions, segmenting through his next foe.**_

All around the garden, moments after one another, demons that were being faced by ninjas, humans and half-breeds would suddenly burst into bloody chunks with a single sharp dying cry. Sudden sprays of blood and flesh would coat the combatants from all angles as multitudes of armored monsters were cut down in seconds.

_**Lines forming along the fault points of his next targets, the Dragon Shifted over to a hulking beast of a humanoid demon. Ducking low, a slice to the legs followed by a rising double twist, cutting through the armor like it was butter. As the armor slowly fell, he swung through the new gaps created, severing flesh and tendon and bone, before bounding over in a wide arc in which he twisted around to form a Helm Splitter blow, a single vertical strike straight down, cutting through armor and flesh alike.**_

_**Always moving, always flowing, never ceasing; a river of blood he had become. Shifting back and forth; Stepping left and right; a phantom of death, a bringer of judgment. Tall or large, heavy or light, wide or thin. Nothing could escape his sight…and as such, nothing could evade his strikes.**_

Around some, the bigger ones with heavy armor, a flicker of light could be seen before the armor seemed to explode off the monsters bodies, mere moments before the tall creatures themselves were turned into shredded flesh.

The dump-truck sized boar like creatures could do nothing as they watched in confusion as suddenly their clubs would be sliced like a loaf of bread, before the arm holding it fell to the ground, followed by half of a leg, forcing them to topple over before their heads seemed to slide off their bodies, a strange blur seeming to dance around their bodies.

"What the HELL IS GOING ON!" Panicked, Donovan rose his staff, charged with a magical stone he had infused with demonic blood. A gigantic rune appeared behind him as a massive humanoid demon emerged. Flesh as pale as snow, a brown scaled shield on its left arm as a massive blade appeared in its right. Long white flowing hair and blood red eyes…and that was when everyone, including Donovan himself gasped.

The single largest tree in the garden broke free of the ground with a mighty crash. Everything stopped. All combatants froze at the sight of the gigantic sakura tree rising from the ground.

_**With a flourish the Dragon Weaved a command. Grasping onto the energies around his once beloved tree, he dictated it rise to the heavens…but that was not all…**_

Still, some would suddenly burst into shreds…but their cries went ignored. Everyone watched as the trees branches snapped off with a loud and painful sounding crack. Eyes widened all around as the broken branches began floating away from the tree, slowly revolving as if on a pedestal.

_**Another command. While he needed only the bulk of the tree to complete his current objective, the smaller ones had their purpose as well. If he was to sacrifice such beauty to achieve victory, he wanted no part of it wasted.**_

A buzzing noise as the branches sharpened into points. Hundreds of floating pointed wooden objects surrounded the once rooted Sakura tree…as the tree itself began to rotate similarly. With nary a warning, the once branches suddenly became rigid, pointing in random directions.

With a mighty boom of displaced air, the branches rocketed away from the tree like hurled spears, as the buzzing sound became louder as the trunk of the tree itself began to be shaved. With a series of whistling noises, the branches slammed into the bodies of the remaining demons, shooting straight through, causing the monstrosities to somehow be shredded from wherever they were touched.

The buzzing stopped.

Donovan, the Combatants and the single remaining giant of a demon watched as the now gigantic wooden spear flipped its way higher into the sky. Eyes became squinted as a black shape seemed to materialize just next to the not-tree.

**BANG**

The gigantic tree rocketed downwards at a neigh untraceable speed, a literal shockwave parting the clouds where it rose. In seconds the giant behind Donovan was impaled, the once tree exploding in a wave of wooden shrapnel that shredded the demon.

And then…a sharp cry.

* * *

(BGM: Metroid Prime 2 – Quadraxis)

Everyone looked towards where Kasumi was trapped under the grip of a green haired clone. There was a flare of light just as they turned, and they watched the blonde one go flying backward, a black clad figure standing with his hand outstretched and pointed where the clone once was. The green haired one looked up just in time to see the figure make a backhanding motion. There was a small flicker of light and a rather noticeable distortion of air as the girl was flung off the red-haired kunoichi's body. Kasumi looked up with shocked and fearful eyes.

And then…it spoke.

"Honestly Kasumi…how is it that you have gotten so weak?"

She slowly climbed to her feet. "Who…"

The figure had not been facing her. He slowly turned, black locks framing his face.

_That…impossible…_

"Shin…ji…kun?"

The garden became silent. He didn't answer.

"You're stronger than this. You know it. I know it. Why do you hold back? They are devoted to him, they live for him, they fight for him."

"Shinji-kun, is that you?"

He ignored her. "You are a fool Kasumi. A soft hearted fool."

She seemed to tear up at that.

"…never change."

She blinked, silent tears streaming down her face.

"Impossible…you're dead! DEAD! I watched you die!"

"You watched a young man get impaled with a demonic spear and thrown into a portal to another dimension. You saw not his death. You merely assumed he would die."

Donovan paled. The figure was right.

"But…your assumption is correct. The one called Miyamoto Shinji is no more. He died on that day. You succeeded in your attempts."

"BULLSHIT! You're standing right in front of us!" This outburst surprised everyone, seeing as it was coming from the normally soft tempered redhead.

"I…am not Miyamoto Shinji. I am Zero Shinzaki, the new Dark Dragon."

The green haired clone laughed at that. "The Dark Dragon is dead. Its shards are ghrugh-

Nobody saw him move. In moments he had his hand inside her chest, her shirt practically disintegrating at his touch, the entire garden watching her breasts bounce slightly at the sudden impact, a shocked look on her face.

"Worthless construct."

With a loud squelch, Zero had ripped out her still beating heart, blood coating his hand. He held it up for the entire garden to see…and then crushed it. As if that was a trigger, the clone dropped to the ground, eyes still wide open…dead.

"Pathetic."

He threw the crushed remains of her heart to the side, before pointing his blood coated arm at her, a familiar violet ring appearing around his wrist. Crimson panels of energy formed a claw and fired bands of color at the dead body. The clone burst into particles that spiraled around and then fused into a single glowing forest green orb that flew into his palm, absorbed by the ring.

"S-sister…you…BASTA-

Before she could finish her sentence, the blonde clone was ripped to particles by the ring as well. A pale yellow orb flew into his palm as the ring faded out of existence.

Donovan knew he was outclassed. Immediately, he began weaving a spell to warp him out of the area. However, before the spell could be formulated, he was forced to take a leap backward as a series of fallen swords suddenly embedded themselves where he once stood.

Everyone watched as Donovan, for a few moments covered in a soft red glow, jumped backward just in time to avoid a wall of sharp metal. Zero blinked and watched a blurred shape quickly make its way to where Donovan was ducking under another flying blade. The blur grasped the handle before swinging down, slicing straight through the business-man turned mage's head…only to have the body vanish in a wave of particles.

"Fuck…a shade…"

Everyone watched as another black haired figure seemed to materialize where Donovan's body faded into dark vapors. Zero shook his head.

"Mir."

The girl seemed to flicker for a brief moment before she was right in front of Zero, knees bent in a low bow.

"I'm sorry my Lord. I failed."

"It was a copy from the beginning…how can you have failed if the situation didn't even present you with the proper target?"

The girl looked up at him and smiled. "I suppose you are correct Master. I just-

"I myself would have been pleased to see that particular human erased…but…it seems the Fates wish for him to continue living. We will have to remedy that at a later time. I assure you, my dear Miranda…you will have your vengeance."

"I have no doubt Master is doing all he can to assist me in my revenge."

"Shinji-kun?"

Again, Kasumi went ignored. Zero stepped over to where the now fallen and bloodied giant spear lay.

"This tree…was a very fine tree. It is a pity it had to be used in such a manner."

"Beauty turned deadly."

"Indeed Miranda."

It was then that the two were approached by the others. Mikoto slipped through the wall of flesh and practically jumped into Zero's arms.

"Zero-nii!"

A soft smile appeared on his face. "You've grown stronger Miko-chan. I'm proud of you."

The gears began turning in Kasumi's head. _He ignores me when I call him Shinji…but answers to Zero. Wait…didn't he state that Shinji died? But…if he's standing in front of us…and knows who we are… Wouldn't that mean…? But…he said he was the Dark Dragon…well then what happened to Tiamat?_

He patted Mikoto on the head and faced the rest of the group. Before anyone could react, a torrent of electricity had shot from his fingertips and bound themselves around Hayate, who was taken by surprise from the sudden attack.

The unexpected nature of the sudden assault had everyone frozen in shock. Hayate's body slowly lifted into the air as Zero continued the connection.

"_You_ need to control your servants better."

Zero ceased the attack and the ninja dropped to the ground, moaning in pain.

"You have been warned. Next time I catch wind of a Mugen-Tenshin Shinobi performing such vile acts I will have your head on a pike. It's one thing to order a search for someone; it's another to simply allow those searching to do as they please." He seemed to pause before he got a strange look on his face.

"Ahh…Zeikfried."

Zero whirled around, a black aura flaring up around him as a massive gale of black electricity arced from both hands onto the blue armored half-demon. The speed and ferocity of the assault was far beyond Zeik's ability to defend, and he weathered the attack painfully.

"Did you honestly believe your actions would go unpunished? That it would be forgotten what you did, that none would come and enact justice upon you?"

Gasping for breath in between shouts of pain, the armored half breed answered. "You…you helped…"

"Shinji's final act was to make secure that your _Sister _would be safe. That you, his killer, were assisted as well was something that did not sit well with him."

That got Zeik some unwanted attention. Most specifically from Mikoto, Kasumi, and surprisingly enough, Ayane. The violet haired ninja was barely able to restrain herself from drawing her weapon and quartering the blasted knight then and there…something that Zero sensed.

"However…" and here, the torrent stopped, but the aura remained and did in fact, grow stronger. "I am an honorable being. As such, I follow the rules of equality."

A small glowing symbol appeared on Zeikfried's chest. He looked down at it with horrified eyes, knowing exactly what it meant.

"You took his life…"

The black symbol comprised of four triangles arranged in a manner that resembled a hazard sign, flared with energy. The armored man roared in pain as sparks of dark energy raced through his body.

"…and in return…"

A black glow surrounded the half-breed as the Crest of Destruction did its work, forming a phantom bond between the two.

"…I will take yours."

With a final cry of agony, and a brilliant wave of dark energy, Zeikfried dropped to his knees…panting…bleeding…

"I…understand…Master."

There was no smile. No pleased look.

"Good. Your life belongs to me, Zero Shinzaki, Shinji Miyamoto's reincarnation. You will live as I dictate; you will die as I dictate. You who would call forth the thunder now shall reap the whirlwind."

"Wh-what of…my brothers and sister…?"

"They are free to do as they please. Their lives are not tied to mine, while yours is. Your actions caused the death of not one, but two glorious beings. As such, you are mine to do with as I wish."

"Yes…master."

The aura faded. From that day on, Zeikfried's armor would bear the mark of Destruction, the calling card of the Dark Dragon.

And then…something happened…something that proved Shinji was still in there somewhere underneath Zero's cold exterior.

"Now…Yuki-san, your bathroom is still where it was last time I was here correct?"

"Y-yes."

"Good. I've been holding it in for about half a day now. I have to piss like a monster."

And with that parting statement…he vanished. Five seconds later…

"OH THANK GLORIOUS HEAVEN!"

Kokoro gave a very un-lady like snort at that.

* * *

It's been a while hasn't it? Doesn't seem like too many read this section though. Oh well.

Gravenimage: maybe. It might be a twin thing though, Zero with both Kasumi AND Ayane. Originally it was going to just be Ayane, and maybe Hitomi…but as I wrote her, I started liking Kasumi as an option more and more.


End file.
